


Gundam Seed: Omni

by ashervalentine



Category: Digimon - All Media Types, Gundam Build Fighters, Gundam SEED
Genre: Crossover
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-28
Updated: 2018-08-10
Packaged: 2019-02-06 06:23:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 107,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12811545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashervalentine/pseuds/ashervalentine
Summary: A fanboy of digimon series recently entered gunpla world to build his idolized white knight base from the digimon series. When Yajima Holdings invented a new experiment Gunpla Battle Simulation, he had entered an unfamiliar world where gunpla is giant robots and death is real. To find a way home & survive, he had to fight as his gunpla "Omni Gundam". *First-time story :3*





	1. Unexpected accident

'Damn it, where the heck is he? He said he should pick me up 30 minutes ago!' a boy who wore an unbutton sleeveless River Island Blue Denim casual hoodie jacket together with white short sleeves shirt under the jacket, a pair of fingerless black gloves that one of them reveals an orange colour design with a stylized sun engraved on upper left palm of the glove, while the upper right palm revealed a pattern resembles a Yin Yang enclosed in an eye with a pair of black jeans & the limited edition of Nike Air Jordan 1 OG 'BRED' 2016.

'That idiot called me early in the morning where I suppose to have some time to watch my favorite old anime! But instead, I've got called by my friend to help some stuff. This better be good!' The dark blue hair tapping his right foot with annoyance expression shown on his face. He had waited in front of his house for 30 minutes.

After a few seconds, a honking sound is heard. The boy looked at the direction of the source, a white minivan is driving towards the boy's location. The minivan slowed down and the window of the co-driver seat is lowered down revealed a shoulder-length dirty blond hair guy with glasses on him.

"Hey, Asher Valentine! Waited very long?"

"Kawasaki Itsuki, you bastard! It's been 30 mins late from what you promised!"

"It's that how you greet your childhood friend showing up first? Don't be such a nagging grandma in the morning, hop on."

Asher sighed, he decided to just ignore his frustration and hop on the minivan and greet the driver. The minivan drove them to somewhere and Asher still had no idea where is his friend taking him too and what kind of 'help' he himself suppose to do.

"Hey, Itsuki. You haven't told me what kind of help this is? If it's one of your computer geeky tech stuff, I'm outta here."

"Relax, it's actually about something you've been looking forward too. You bring a gunpla along right?" Itsuki asked

"Yeah, and that's gotta do with it anyway?"

"You see, my friend is one of the engineers for Nielsen Labs R&D division and he said that they're be launching a new gunpla simulation battle system. I don't know the details yet, but they need some beta tester to test it out and you're the lucky winner thanks to my connection." Itsuki explained.

"Why asked for me then? You can help them by yourself can't you?" Asher can't believe what he's hearing just now. If it's about gunpla battle Itsuki can do alone.

"Well, we need a data of someone with great athletic as they already gotten data of non-athletic test subject, and you just come right into my mind when I heard it. You learned Karate and Kendo right?" Itsuki asked.

"Yeah, a black belt in Karate and 3 dan in Kendo. But I didn't do them for quite some time. What's got to do with it anyway?" Asher asked

"You can become gundam."

"Har?" Asker asked confused. He tried to ask what did Itsuki mean by that but Itsuki ignoring him and just replied to wait until they reach Nielson Labs in silence. "I rather become Digimon."

"Like those gloves you've been wearing?" Itsuki asked

"Yup! Crest of courage and friendship, base on Omegamon. You know that, right?"

"Sorry, nope." Itsuki lied, he had watch Digimon series with Asher when he was a kid. Itsuki's more on Gundam than Digimon, but the series is still very enjoyable. Asher loved a Digimon called Omegamon and his rooms were decorated with posters, model figures, cards of it.

"Jerk." Asher looked away with an annoyed pout with arms crossed, Itsuki just chuckled at the reaction.

After several minutes, they had arrived at Nielson Labs. Itsuki thanked the driver and drove off. Both boys entered the lobby area and Itsuki approached the receptionist while Asher was astonished the surrounding of the labs. It's full of people at any age building their gunpla's it's like a public event or something.

Itsuki called out Asher that they need to move somewhere, during their tour Asher saw places like gunpla shop, battle simulation dome etc. "Wow, there's a lot of facilities here. No wonder people were talking about it that the skilled fighters that able to reach national tournament mostly from here or Gunpla Academy."

"Right? By the way Asher, it's been bugging me for a while. Why didn't you participate any gunpla battle lately? I mean your control skill is good enough to have a decent challenge." Itsuki asked

"Dude, I've been into this gunpla stuff for just 2 weeks. Didn't I told you that the only day I battle is when I finish assembling my gunpla I always dreamed of."

Itsuki stop his track and turn to Asher with a surprised face, "Don't tell me you bring that? It's finished?"

"Yeah? Well, it's not perfect like those hardcore builder's but it'll do. At least, this time, I have reinforced the parts so it won't come off easily like last time." Asher said as he sweat-drop from the memory. It was an embarrassing moment where when his gunpla just taking off, the parts instantly fall apart. Lucky it was a CPU test.

Itsuki pressed his forehead with his right hand and sigh, "Well, I told you that for a beginner builder it's too much to make a fully custom made gunpla's. Why not just follow the manual and add some touch with matt spray & a marker for a starter?"

"No way! You know the only reason I start this Gunpla thing so I can have my dream gunpla come true! I finally got inspiration and idea for it, so don't destroy it!"

Itsuki gave up, he knew that no matter what Asher will never change his mind when it come's to 'that'. He wondered which of them is more otaku each other. Itsuki sweat-drop at that thought, but he's also interested in Asher's gunpla in terms of performance. No doubt that Asher has good control skill thanks to his martial arts training. Speaking of martial arts, Itsuki wondered why Asher is still looking skinny despite working out but that's irrelevant.

"Oh? We're here." Itsuki & Asher arrived at a metal door with a tag Testing Area 1. The metallic door split open and reveal few scientist working on machinery, Itsuki & Asher walk into it and one of the lab coats people are rushing straight towards them.

"Itsuki-kun! You finally arrive!" A man with a black messy hair which slid sideways with rounded glasses, the man revealed itself as a written 'total geek' on the image. "So, this is your friend that I've been hearing about? I'm Assistant Engineer, Kadomatsu Hiroki. Nice to meet you Valentine-kun."

"Asher is fine. Calling by my surname is a bit weird for me. Do you mind what is this test is all about? This idiot here just won't light me up." Asher said in a mocking tone.

"I doubt that your brain able to interpret what I was going to explain, so I leave it to the experts." Itsuki smirk

"What did you say?!" Asher brings his face towards the taller man, Itsuki adjusted his glasses and stare at Asher.

"You heard me right." In a flash, Asher headlock Itsuki hard enough that cause the taller man patting Asher's death grip arms despite his skinny frame and repeatedly chanting 'give up, give up!'. Engineer Kadomatsu can only sweatdrop at the scene and rub his temple.

"Ahem, Asher-kun will you please come with me? And Itsuki-kun, stop teasing your girlfriend already." Both teenagers are frozen after hearing Kadomatsu's words, Itsuki suddenly burst out laughing as Asher releasing his grip and scowled at the older glasses man.

"I'm a male, get it memorize!" Asher said as he walked past both Itsuki who's still laughing with Kadomatsu lab coat lose on the shoulder with a surprising look. Kadomatsu stare at Itsuki, Itsuki just shrugged his shoulder and wink in response which later leaving the dumbfounded engineer alone.

"How can someone as cute as that be a boy? Kids nowadays sure are something." Kadomatsu talk to himself as he scratching his head, he finally sighed and trying to catch up with those two teenage boys.

Asher and the rest have arrived at the testing area for the new Gunpla simulation. Kadomatsu explained on their way to the testing area, the Yajima Holdings wanted to implement a new gunpla simulation system where it will be held in cyberspace, to give a new experience of gunpla battle where fighters will physically transfer their body into data and formed as their gunpla to battle as their own body.

Kadomatsu even explain that thanks to the discovery of assimilation phenomenon where gunpla & fighters will become one which improves gunpla's performance from the mutation of Yajima's Plavsky Particle. Researcher's, programmers and scientist had been studying this Assimilation and finally able to duplicate the system.

Kadomatsu's chief engineer & founder of the new plavsky particle, Niels Yajima had personally declared research on this and oversee experiments till now. Kadomatsu said that the new system will be called Gundam Breaker, where fighters will enter cyberspace and battle numerous numbers of customized gunpla CPU and rival fighters as they proceed through 3 stages on each field.

It is an entirely new battle experience to give a feel, not just PVP but also a mix of PVE and PVP together.

"We're here everyone!" Kadomatsu said as they approach a tan skin fellow lab coat. "Yajima-san, these are the friends that I've been talking about for testing today."

The Yajima turned around and face the teenagers, Asher can't believe he able to meet the former gunpla fighter that emphasis bushido and Chinese arts during 7th World Championship, Nils Yajima the Sengoku Astray Gundam fighter.

Asher running towards Niels and grab the man's hand and shake repeatedly. "I can't believe I'm able to meet Niels Yajima, the Sengoku Astray Gundam fighter! I was astonished the way you swing the katanas and hand to hand combat during the 7th Gunpla World Tournament Championship video! It's awesome!" Asher said with an extremely happy face that his pupils start shaped like a star.

"Sorry about my friend, he's a martial artist himself and he's been crazy when I told him about your past as a fighter which is one of the reasons he started building gunpla." Itsuki said as he dragging Asher away from Nils. Asher looked disappointed but a slight blush covered has on his face as he remembered that he was being impolite to the adult and bow apologetically.

"It's alright, I'm actually quite happy that there's still martial artist out there interested in gunpla battle. May I know your name, Miss?" Nils asked politely but soon surprised at Asher's scowled look and both Itsuki trying to hold their laugh while Kadomatsu just sweat drop.

"I'm Asher Valentine and I'm a boy, Yajima-san." Asher replied with a slightly annoyed tone at the last words.

"I'm sorry for mistaken your gender, Asher-kun. It's just-"

"Don't finish that sentence! Ahem, so where shall I start testing this new system?"

"This way, please. Oh, Kadomatsu can you do the system preparation with Nishiki-san?" Kadomatsu give a thumbs up and jogged off to somewhere. Asher & Itsuki followed Nils into a room full of huge spherical looking machine.

"Asher-kun, please get on the simulator chamber. The computer will advise you what to do. Kawasaki-kun, come with me please." Both of them left the room, Asher is a bit anxious being alone with few staff workers working on this 'simulator chambers'. One of the staff worker calling out Asher to hop on the chamber.

Asher finally took a seat inside, it's almost identical to MS cockpit for some reason. The lid has closed and panel lights are online, the robotic voice of the machine spoken to him is very familiar. "Please set your GP base." Asher chuckled at that finding it funny for some reason, the boy placed his GP base in the slot reading his information. The lid beside the GP base slot had opened, the light tag read 'Gunpla slot' is flashing, "Please placed your Gunpla". Asher reached out to his left chest pocket and took out a small case that revealed Asher's personal gunpla.

"Here goes, Omnimon- Ahem, I mean Omni Gundam. Time for deployment!" Asher said as he inserting his gunpla into the empty slot which later closed up. "Beginning Plavsky Particle Dispersal." The gunpla were scanned and dispersed into particle data, the chamber also scanned on Asher that his entire body started to glow & slowly turned into data to prepare to transfer into the cyberspace, but the sparks started to flickers around him and the chamber had announced an emergency abortion. The main monitor shows the progress gauge of returning Asher's body & his gunpla data into the physical form at 5% currently.

"Erm, guys? Does this sparking usually happened inside the chamber?" Asher asked with slight worrying tone. He can't hear what's happening outside but a small panel shows the staff workers in rush hour, looking screaming and everything. Asher heard a loud thump outside which making him jump from his seats.

Asher saw Itsuki's face on the panel, "Itsuki, what's going on?"

"Its Nakiri, that bastard uploaded some unknown virus trying to sabotage when your physical body turned into data, he's trying to create an accident where you be trapped in cyberspace. Kadomatsu is lucky that he noticed something strange early, so not to worry. The workers outside is trying to force shutdown the system, your body

The sparks in his chamber were getting aggressive, some of them almost hit Asher. "Hey, Itsuki! These sparks are flying around me like a freaking hornet or will o' wisp, you sure it's not dangerous?"

"Sparks? Asher what are you-?" Suddenly the sparks getting intensified, Asher raised his left arm to defend himself, his surroundings are blinded by the light, Itsuki's voice is slowly fading. Asher muttered a few words but Itsuki unable to hear anything, the chamber has engulfed with bright light causing the workers trying to open had backed away. Once the light has died out, the chamber automatically opened itself, the workers slowly approach with caution and muttered what they saw.

Itsuki rush towards the room where the chamber capsule is, he pushed away the workers to see if his friend is unharmed. However, what Itsuki saw in front of him was an empty chamber with abandoned GP Base.

"Asher! Oh no, this can't be happening." Itsuki saw Nils entered the scene together with Kadomatsu. Without delay Nils hurried to a nearby computer typing furiously, Nils later slammed after obtaining results. "This can't be!"

"Chief Engineer, what happened?" Kadomatsu stood beside Nils and observing the information displayed on the monitor. Kadomatsu's eyes turned wide, unaware that Itsuki is nearby until he voiced out. "Kadomatsu-san, what happened? Which field map did Asher had transferred into?

"That's the problem, Itsuki. Asher's data and his gunpla are not appearing in any of the maps. No, I should say his data is not on our testing server!"

"What? That can't be happening?! The server supposed to be quarantined to prevent fighter's data from disarray into the network!"

"It is, but Asher's data and his gunpla have not shown in the Gunpla Simulator. His data couldn't be outside of our testing server."

Itsuki remembered that sparks flickering in Asher's capsule, he wanted to ask about it but knowing them it might be probably the capsule malfunction or some bullshit based on logic. The dirty blond tightening his fist, 'This is not natural, this is not caused by a mere virus and malfunctions. Those sparks that I saw and Asher's data disappearance was like an unknown phenomenon that only shows in fantasy. Damn, I started to sound like Otaku.'

Itsuki adjusted his glasses, he excused himself & head outside as he won't able to do anything in the current situation. 'I'll probably be getting in their way since I'm a high schooler. I'll investigate this my own way. Wait for me, Asher. I'll definitely save you!'

Somewhere in an unknown location, Asher was greeted by the blinding light later on. The boy slowly opened his eye's and saw a blue sky that doesn't seem natural. Asher slowly get up from what he identified as a grass field? 'Wait? Aren't I suppose to be Nielson Lab? Why am I outside?'

Asher got up on his feet, his entire body feels a little sluggish and somehow not feeling like normally do. His body felt like will beginning fall apart for some reason. He shook his head trying to focus the current situation he's in now.

"Ok, first of all. What happen? I was at Nielson Labs together with Itsuki and test this new Gunpla Simulation that fighter able to fight in cyberspace. And then, Itsuki said something about virus and sparks flying like a freaking firecracker and now I'm here in god knows where." Asher mumbled himself.

"No good, I can't remember what happened after that! More importantly, where am I? Am I in a simulation? Kind of looks real to me." The boy looked at his surroundings, it looks like a public park or something. The denim jacket boy just shook his head, 'No point getting confuse here, I have to search around for clues. Based on the environment, I'm at a public park or something with this much greenery here.'

The boy walked around and saw small white pavilions with a person in it typing some computers. 'Perfect! Someone is here! At least now I can know where am I.'

"Excuse me! Can I ask some question?!" The boy rushes towards the pavilions while shouting at the person in it. The latter flinch slightly of the voice calling for it and turned around meeting the dark blue hair boy who running towards it.

"Yes? How can I help you?" The person in the pavilions stood up and step out of it, revealed to be a boy in 16 years old with short dark brown hair with layered bangs slide down to his nose bridge, the person has purple eye colour seems to be wearing a complex black leather jacket with white collar, and light green pants.

'Huh? Doesn't this guy seem familiar somewhere? Oh well, must be my imagination.' The denim jacket boy halted his track in front of the cottage. "Hi, My name Asher. Asher Valentine. How should I address you?"

"Kira. Kira Yamato."


	2. Dive! Discovery of Connect jump!

Chapter 2: Dive! Discovery of Connect jump!

# At Nielsen Lab #

Several police cars stopped in front of the lab, the people inside wondered what happen that get their attention. Soon Nils Yajima & several securities had arrived at the scene and interact with them, while the securities block the view and urge everyone to remain calm & not create the scene.

A middle-aged man with black eye's and hair wears a buttoned white shirt with purple vertical stripes, under a black buttoned shirt, and a green hooded jacket with white cords and black handles. He also wears a black hat with green stripes, black pants, and shoes of undetermined color.

"I'm Inspector Matayoshi, I'm in charge in this case." The middle age Inspector show his badge.

"Yajima Nils, Chief Engineer of this facilities. The culprit is held one of our laboratory rooms inside, please follow me." Nils gesture to the Inspector to follow him, but the Inspector hold up his own hand to wait after hearing a sound of vehicle wheels burns getting louder & louder and stop.

"Sorry, but there's someone I would like to come with." Matayoshi turned around, Nils move aside and found out that there's a beautiful woman who just entered through the main entrance.

Inspector Matayoshi ordered the officers to let her enter which they did. With that everyone within the vicinity gets a clear view of the woman.

She has a fair skin, black eyes, and waist-length blonde hair with a fringe covering her forehead. She wears black sunglasses with pink lenses, a collar, and a white T-shirt with long sleeves and red buttons. The shirt's topmost button is undone, leaving her cleavage highly exposed. She also wears black gloves, a black scarf with golden circuit-like lines in the shoulders, which is tied near the belly and passes on top of her hair in the back. She also wears black hot pants and black high heels which are open on the top and have golden circuit-like lines in the bottom.

Nils almost captivated by her beauty like the rest of the guys, it's like having a supermodel visit in this place.

"Yes, don't worry about it. Take your time, there's no need to rush here." She nodded, "Understood, I'll see you in a while then. Love you." The blonde haired woman ended her call and turn towards both Nils & Matayoshi, she smiled as she walked towards them and stop her track with her left hand rested on her left hip as it stands out.

"Sorry Matayoshi-san, could you wait a while? My husband will be on his way."

"Sure, no problem. This is Nils Yajima, the chief engineer of this facilities." Matayoshi said as he gestured Nils during the introduction to the mysterious blonde woman.

The blonde woman hand out her hand gesture for a shake, Nils was hesitated to shake her hand at first but he took it. "Nils Yajima, as he said. May I know your name Ms..?"

"Kyoko, Kyoko Valentine. I'm a detective from Valentine Detective Agency. I heard about the incident from this boy here." The blonde woman named Kyoko revealed Itsuki.

"Kawasaki-kun?" Nils was shocked to see the victim's friend was still here after that Nils suddenly remembered something.

"Valentine? Then you must be-" Nils turned to Kyoko who just smile after she smirked at the Chief Engineer reaction.

"Yes, I'm the victim's mother. Asher is my son, soon his father will arrive shortly." Kyoko showed Nils her wedding ring that blinked on her ring finger.

"In the meantime." Kyoko walk towards Nils, "Could you briefly explain what exactly has happened in the past few hours?" Nils slightly backed away after hearing the tone of her voice and her face covered in slight shadow that turned her beautiful black eye's that send chills on everyone's spine like the eye's of a Hawk.

# Meanwhile, at Heliopolis Colony #

Asher felt a slight deja vu after hearing Kira's name, 'Kira Yamato? Where did I hear that name before? Oh, well. Doesn't matter anyway.' Asher shrug mentally. "Hello, I was hoping if I can spare few minutes of your precious time? You see, I'm kind of lost, do you know where we are right now?" Asher asked as he looked around in an unfamiliar place for him.

'I hope this question won't bring me to trouble. Hopefully, this guy won't call police or something right?' Asher mentally sweat-drop at that thought when he saw Kira blinking his eye's with a surprised look.

In Kira's mind, he's hesitating whether he wants to answer the question or not as he's not very good dealing with strangers, especially with a Natural except for his friends. He wasn't sure if the dark blue hair person in front of him is asking whether which part of the area in university they currently in or something.

'Why am I thinking too much over a simple question? It's like I'm trying to solve a Rubik cube or something. Besides, this person seems good person but odd.' Kira thought himself as he studying Asher's, his attire seems normal but Kira is curious about the gloves he wears, it has the symbol that he had never seen it before.

Kira had unconsciously stare at Asher's body proportion & face who currently standing in front of him with his left knuckle resting on his hip. Despite knowing he's male, Kira almost mistook it for a tomboy female with that gesture if it weren't for Asher's way of speaking.

The brown hair Coordinator shook out his thoughts which caused the person in front of him jumped a little of his reaction. "Sorry, something was in my mind just now. You can call me Kira, Valentine-san."

"Erm, you're currently in an outdoor park of Heliopolis Industrial. May I know where will you want to go? I can show you the way." Kira continued and decided to just name everything he can just in case.

'College? Damn, he looks like we're around the same age and I'm only in high school! This guy must be a bookworm in disguise without glasses, or was he wearing contact lens?...Wait? Did he just said colony?' Asher is trying to process a little information he got, he had never heard of this Heliopolis before. He already had a bad idea about this, but not going to jump conclusion yet as this kind of stuff only appear in anime or fanfiction.

"Ah, thanks! Call me Asher by the way. I have a bad sense of direction, so I tend to forget where was I going. Do you know which way is the main exit?" Asher said as he looked around, its a very nice park for a college, he wondered if the public park is even better?

"The exit is right over there, you can see a security guard standing over there so you can't miss it. You'll have a visitor pass with you, right? As I never seen you before in this college, should I help you find your friend instead?" Kira asked as he pointed the direction.

Asher panicked a little, he just woke up in an unknown place and he'd almost getting busted himself. "Yeah! I have it, it's inside my pocket somewhere. Thanks for the help by the way! See ya!" Asher ran off immediately in opposite direction from what Kira's showing early.

"Ah wait! That's the wrong...direction." Kira tried to call out Asher when he reached his out his hand but can only sweatdrop as Asher runs off with a trail of comical dust left behind.

"Shall I give chase?" Kira scratch his temple & slightly worried if that person will be alright by himself? While his worries continued on, he heard someone calling out his name. Kira turned the direction of the voice and smiled as a group of a student approaching him with friendly manners.

"Hey,Kira!" One of the groups with a messy brown hair came up to Kira and wrap his right arm around Kira's shoulder. "This is where you're slacking off huh?" The messy brown hair said as he headlock Kira in a friendly manner.

"Tolle, Miriallia, Sai & Kuzzey! Is your class already over?" Kira asked while easily freed himself from Tolle's head lock that makes Tolle blinked in confusion how Kira manage to slip off easily.

The only female in the group with light brown hair & a pair of ocean blue eye's giggled at the display her boyfriend Tolle & friend Kira early. "Yes, all of us tried to find you as soon our class is over. By the way, Kira. Did you talk with someone just now? I saw a glimpse of someone seems running away quickly." Miriallia said as she progressing her memory trying to remember.

"Did someone bully you again?" A guy with a dark hair that combed both ends that revealed his forehead.

"No, Kuzzey. He's just asking for direction which ended up in going the wrong way after I show him the way just now. Hahaha." Kira said as he laughed nervously as he scratching his temple.

" You think that person will be fine by himself, Kira? We can help, you know." A guy with short spiky blonde hair with a glasses asked in worry tone.

"Oh! Speaking of help!" Miriallia made a single loud clap and turned to Kira, "Kira, the Professor wants to meet you in his Laboratory. Something about programming again."

"Again? I just finished it several hours ago, why can't they leave me alone." Kira sighed as he dropped his shoulder, the robotic bird on his shoulder where Asher failed to noticed early hover beside the teenage Coordinator.

"Can't be helped about it, pal." Tolle patted Kira's right shoulder, Kira turned towards Tolle. "After all, you're the best student here. Won't be surprised for teacher's asking for help from our bright student, haha. As for the guy you just help, we'll find him together after you finish with what Professor cooking for you. "

"Not funny, Tolle!" Kira replied with gloomy tone & expression, he sighed again. 'I wonder if that person will be all right by himself?'

# Meanwhile, somewhere in the Universities.

*Pant-Pant* "Oh man, I never run this hard for so long. Okay, now where the hell am I?" The dark blue hair boy looked around in yet again unfamiliar place. Asher had no doubt he got lost again and went into the wrong direction from what Kira had shown him.

"Oh well, not like I've never getting lost before." Asher walked & looked around his surroundings, nothing in particular. Students and teachers everywhere, it seems like they never noticed Asher, which is a good thing for now. After quite some time walking around, Asher finally found the main gate of the universities. However, he noticed one major problem when he saw the students showing some card to the guard and scan it.

"Curses, it needs a freaking access card to go through. Why am I not surprised? Now, how am I suppose to get out of here? I can't ask for Kira's help, that will get both me & him trouble as I'm already a trespasser." Asher sigh, the only way for him is to find other way and climb a wall or something.

Asher walk away from the bustling wave of students on the main gate, he made a few steps and saw a monitor display about the universities. Asher touched the monitor and scroll severals information to reveal a map for any way out.

"I need to find another way out. There should be somewhere that less populated for sneaking out around here somewhere." Asher speaks softly to himself as he continued scrolling the monitor with the help of the tutorial of how to use it.

As he continued scrolling the monitor, Asher noticed a buzzing feeling inside his body. He tried to ignore that weird feeling but it's getting stronger & stronger.

"Is it just me, or this buzzing feeling seems familiar?"

Before Asher had any time to process, his right palm suddenly glowing and a small hole of vortex appeared in front of the monitor. Before he noticed what's going on, he had been sucked into the monitor without anyone noticed.

# Inside the monitor cyberspace.

"Wuaaaaaaaah!" Asher can feel that he's been sucked into a vacuum, he can't see anything as he's been blinded by a light. Before he knows it, he had exited from the vortex and dropped him off in a cylinder like environments.

"Where am I?" Asher got back up and he saw he's in a cylinder like tubes with everything buzzing around. He can see a flow of square panels on his surroundings when one of them appeared in front of Asher which had startled him.

"What is this thing?" Asher touched it and the small monitor expanded its size and to Asher's shocked, it was an information he had scrolled early on about the universities.

"This is the data about the universities I was scrolling early! Does this mean, I'm already inside of the monitor now?" Asher looked around, everything around him are digitalize as he's inside a long tunnel looking cylinder.

"This place looks so familiar, it's just like the Digimon newest game! Does that mean I'm in cyberspace?"

Asher stayed silence as the data is streaming above him inside the tube, "THIS IS FREAKING AWESOME!" The data flowed were disturbed and jerked slightly thanks to Asher's loudness.

Asher can't believe this is happening to him, he can enter cyberspace just like the game he wanted to play. "But how can I able to enter this space in the first place? Is my body composed of data right now?" Asher thought for a while and finger snapping.

"That's right! That experimental capsule! It was supposed to be transforming our physical body into data which allow us to play Gunpla in cyberspace as our own body!" Asher able to made all sense of his current situation, his body is composed of data of his physical appearance, an Avatar.

"So, I'm like a Digimon eh? My body is data but I can contact with any physical things. Sound like from the newest game that I pre-ordered last month. I hope I can play it before it arrives."

Asher suddenly remembered something, "Speaking of the new game, ain't there's a character that looked like mum? Not to mention the detective office seems familiar with our house." Asher just shrugs, it's probably a coincidence that someone took a picture of her or something. His mum looked like a famous model anyway, he wondered how his father can get someone like her even though his father is quite dashing himself.

Asher just wash that thought away, he can worry about that later since already answered the buzzing feeling inside his body when he was at the monitor, it possible to give him an access to the cyber world in an unknown phenomenon.

"As tempted as I want to find out if I'm able to turn into Omni Gundam that I build since the Gunpla data should be inside me. But first of all, I need to find a way out. Who knows what happens to me if I stay in this realm for a long period of time." Asher said as he tried to run, but only to find out that his weight suddenly feel light and he was floating. Asher was very amazed, but he needed to find a way out as fast as he can.

He didn't know where he should go since it's only one-way tunnel as he followed. Later on, Asher had come across a split road or tunnel, he roughly scanning the two roads and saw the left side which at the end shows a great light while the other one seems no ending, probably connected to other networks.

Asher can't risk heading to other networks since he's still not adopting the environment he's in. Also, he rather not bumping into any anti-virus or firewall in his current condition and not wanted to imagine if he's getting deleted.

"Well, let's try left way and hopefully I won't attracted any attention." Asher flew towards the light that believed to be an exit. Once he contacted with it, Asher covered his sight and he felt that he's being pushed out and his face landed on a rough surface with a painful groan as he tried to get up.

Asher press against his swollen nose as he got himself up and noticed that he's on the sideway of the road. "Sweet! I'm finally out! Now, on to the next objective of 'How the hell I'm going back' mission...what am I talking about? I don't have a freaking plan for this. Urgh, wish Itsuki were here lending me a hand. Wonder how Mom & Dad gonna reacts if they heard about this."

Asher expression sadden when he thought that he's currently in a different dimension or something which everything is alien to him. Asher shook his head and slapped himself on both sides, "Stay positive, Asher! This is just like those Anime's or fanfiction about some people got themselves into an alternate world and they always come back! I just need to believe in myself and search for a clue just like how mum & dad always do!" Asher nodded himself.

"Though I said that, where should I start? I'm not a good detective like mum."

A sudden explosion and siren erupted everywhere instantly around Asher. The boy had no idea what is going on as a bustling of people running away from the explosion. Asher later heard an announcement which voiced by a female that seems to be broadcast on the entire colony.

"Attention to all, the Heliopolis had declared martial law due to a sudden attack from unknown forces. All civilians are advised to proceed to the evacuation point and please follow direct instruction from our military officers to ensure your safety. This is not a drill! I repeat this is not a drill!"

Asher had no idea what to do in this current situation, he just randomly hold up an adult who stopped in front of him trying to figure out what's going on.

"Sorry, mister! What's going on here? Why the martial law declared?!" Asher shouted as the siren and explosions erupting everywhere loudly.

"It's the ZAFT, they attacked the colony. You best hurry for the evacuation shuttle while you can kid!" The adult man ran off, leaving Asher stand

"ZAFT?" Another explosion occurred and it exploded nearby where Asher is standing. The blast had thrown him off balance causing him to tumble away several times before he crashes towards the wall.

"Ouch... What the hell-" As Asher groans in pain, he thanked whatever god that none of his bones is breaking even though his body is made of data now. As he slowly tried to get himself up with few painful grunts.

When he finally got up, he was in complete shock of what after witnessing the scene in front of him. A giant humanoid robot that seems not noticing him, appeared in a size of the tall building that colored with dark green with a mono-eye head while firing the giant machine gun in its hand.

A giant humanoid robot that seems not noticing him, appeared in a size of the tall building that colored with dark green with a mono-eye head while firing the giant machine gun in its hand.

Asher just standing still as he was in complete dumbfounded by the display of the giant machine in front of him. Asher just couldn't believe what he saw in front of him.

"Holy crap! It's the freaking giant Gunpla!"


	3. Raided Colony

# At Nielson Lab #

Nils briefly explained what had happened earlier, together from Itsuki himself about the entire situation where Asher had suddenly disappeared, the staff are currently working to search for any anomaly while trying to trace Asher's physical data in their network.

Asher's mother, Kyoko Valentine remain calm as she absorbed information as much as possible and try to make any sense. Despite the explanation seems a bit exaggerating for logic even for Inspector Matayoshi, even some officer who listen seem didn't believe in it.

"I understand the situation. Thank you for sharing the information, Chief Engineer Yajima. In short, you think a virus program uploaded by the suspect caused that anomaly itself and somehow the victim's avatar data had no trace detected inside of the lab's network. Am I following you so far?" Kyoko asked Niels, the Chief Engineer was taken aback by her calm and collective state despite the fact that the victim was her own son.

"Yes, that's what we know so far right now, Detective Valentine. One of my Assistant Engineers, Kadomatsu-san together with few of my staff are right now working on locating Asher-kun's data in our entire network," Niels replied to Kyoko.

"Hm, this is a weird case. Kyoko, what do you think?" Inspector Matayoshi asked.

"Frankly speaking Matayoshi-san, on the outside, it might seem like the virus uploaded by the suspect caused this incident but we can't make any speculations the until analysis results are done, Inspector Matayoshi." Kyoko replied.

"But what really caught my attention is that the data of the victim had no traces in the intranet of this facilities despite the testing is done in a quarantine server of the lab. The billion dollar question will be, where did the victim had disappeared off too if it's not inside of the laboratory server despite there's no evidence of a server breach or of someone hacking into the lab's main server?" Kyoko gestured herself in her thinking and mumbling to herself. But everyone in the vicinity just stared at Kyoko as she spoken her deductions of the situation out loud.

Kyoko realized the stares of the people to her and stopped herself. "Ahem, my apologized. I have a habit that speaking out loud when I'm trying to process my thoughts on cases." Kyoko said as he waved her hands in front of her in a calm manner, hoping to forget her embarrassing habit.

"Release me this instant!" Everyone except for Kyoko jumped in surprised after hearing a loud voice behind them

"What was that?" Inspector Matayoshi turned around and saw a very tall man around 6 foot tall with white hair combed to the side, wears a semi-framed glasses & a white business suit with a blue shirt underneath and a same blue colored necktie. The stranger is currently struggling with a few number of officers trying to restrain him.

"That will be undoubtedly my husband, Inspector. He's in panic mode when he heard about our son's disappearance. It's best to let him in and let me handle it, as he's the most stubborn man I know for this kind of situation." Kyoko said as she walked past Inspector Matayoshi.

"Sigh, very well." The inspector rushed towards the commotion trying to calm Kyoko's husband down but the man knocked down several police officers which surprised the Inspector.

'He took down my trained man this easily?' The Inspector thought.

"Alex, calm yourself down. We don't need to make any unnecessary attention in this situation." Kyoko stepped forward on the man called Alex.

"Kyoko? Where's Asher? What happen?" Alex walked up to Kyoko & held her shoulders with his arms.

"We're investigating right now, Alex. Why don't you sit with Kawasaki-kun and calm yourself, making unnecessary ruckus will never get help our son." Kyoko said as she placed her hands, cupped on Alex's cheeks.

Alex pupils were relaxed after sensing his wife's touch & nodded, "Very well, I leave it to you, honey. If anything comes up let me know." Alex walked towards Inspector Matayoshi and towering over him, "I apologized on my behavior early, Inspector. I shouldn't have gone offensive on your men just now. My name is Alex Valentine, I'm a director manager from the International Gunpla Battle Official Referee." Alex bowed apologetically & hand over his business card.

"Eh? Oh, it's alright. I know the feeling of worried parents when their son is the victim of the crime." The Inspector pulled down his cap trying to hide his surprised as he accepted the business card & bewildered that a director manager of some game referee capable of taking out few of his man easily.

A lone officers jog towards Inspector Matayoshi, "Sir, the suspect is ready for interrogation!" the official salute.

"Very well, let's see what our suspect spitting out about this. You're coming, Kyoko?"

"Of course, lead the way." Kyoko turned to Alex who stood beside Itsuki. "I'll see you around later, darling. Don't worry leave this to us."

Alex nodded in reply, "Don't overdo it, honey!" at Kyoko, as she turned around & walked away together with the Inspector for interrogation.

"Erm, sir. What do you mean by overdoing it?" Itsuki asked

"Hm? Oh, Itsuki-kun was it? It's been a long time since I last saw you. Well to answer your question, I'm more worried if Kyoko is able to get vital information before she squeezes the life out of that poor person." Alex said as he scratched the back of his head

"Huh? But she looks calm and all?"

"Well, she's a professional and I know her well. Trust me, when she called me the first time before she arrived here...her voice was ice cold & venomous. It was enough to send chills down my spine!" Alex said as he shudders at the thoughts. "She's trying her best to remain calm, but since it involves our son I won't be surprised if we hear a bloody scream later."

Itsuki gulped his saliva, "I hope Asher is all right. It's my fault that I brought him to this! I-"

"Don't say another word, young one. Self-blaming or pointing fingers will never solve the problem, we just have to trust in the officers and believe that there is a solution and that Asher will be saved. Have some faith in yourself, Itsuki-kun." Alex said

"Right, I'll do that. Sorry."

"Please, call me Alex. We're not strangers to each other anyway." Alex patted Itsuki's shoulder, his touch for some reason soothing his worries and giving him more confidence.

"Right." Itsuki stared at the ceiling above him in the lounge, 'I wonder where Asher is. If he's in a Digimon world, I'll bet he's super excited. Wonder what's his reaction is if he's in some Gundam universe?"

"Holy crap! It's a freaking giant Gunpla!" Asher was bewildered at the sight of a giant mobile suit firing its machine gun on its target.

"Well that was new, I thought there's only that 1st generation Gundam and that red mono-eye statue which are just statues, but this one tearing up with its weapons." Asher said as he shrugged. Clearly, he was not impressed until he had a second thoughts with the destruction on his surroundings he just made a stupid statement.

"Ok, I'm panicked as heck which I don't know why I'm still standing here watching some huge gunpla destroying the city like Godzilla and still talking nonsense instead of running away!I'm gone!" Without wasting any seconds, he ran away from the engaging GINN Mobile suits currently destroying Earth Alliance forces.

'All right, I'm running but to where? I don't even know the layout of this place! I should have just followed the crowd just now.' Asher kept running as long as he can, he's currently far away from the war zone and decided to catch a breath after that long-running.

"I better find someone for help or I'm screwed." Asher later saw a couple of children few meters ahead of him, as he squinted his eyes to get a better look. But surprisingly to himself, Asher's pupil suddenly enlarge and a stream of light formed inside of his eye pupils, making his sight's zoomed in towards the children with better details.

In a state of panic, Asher was freaked out and closed his eyes, rubbing them several times until he opened again. This time his sight was back normal. "What the heck was that? It's like my eyesight suddenly became a telescope or something." Asher rubbed his eyes again to make sure there's nothing wrong with them. He jogged towards the two children since he can't just ignore two lone children in this current situation.

"Hey, what you two doing? It's dangerous here!" Asher called out to them which he got a reply by turning their attention to him. He can see the little girl is crying & the boy is keeping her calm but his shivering is visible as well, shaking in fear.

"Me & my little sister got separated from mom & dad, w-we can't find them." The boy said as he was trying to calm his little sister down, but she continued to cry when he mentioned the fact that their parents were missing.

'I can't just abandon them like this. Simulator or not, it's just sick leaving kids like this.' Asher shook his head, he turned his back to them and crouched down. "Come, I'll carry your little sister, kid. We'll go find your parents & bring you two to safety."

"B-But mommy said -sob- we should not follow strangers." The little girl said in her choking tears.

"Don't worry, I'm not a kidnapper or anything. Just a normal teenager helping out."

"Why?"

"Because I wanted to. No specific reason" Asher shrugged his shoulders.

The two kids looked at each other, hesitant about the idea of following a stranger they just met. But the kids know that they do not have any other choice and understood that their parents might be trying to find them...or they were already dead…

The sound of gunfire & explosion nearby had jumped their shoulders, the scream of "Hold them back", "Fire" is getting louder and louder as they heard. "Come on, we can't stay long at here. We'll be caught in their crossfire. I'll keep you two safe & find your parents, I promise!" Asher said, after waited for a minute which seems infinity, the little girl had finally climbed on Asher's back and they made a run for it to somewhere safe or evacuation spot.

As they tried to stay away from the danger zone, Asher tried to keep his pace on the little boy running beside him, noticing the way the little boy breathe he slowly stopped in front of him. "You ok? We've been running non-stop for a while now, I think it's safe to rest for a while." Asher looked around the abandoned streets full of scattered cars & stuff everywhere.

'Seeing all this is too real to be a simulation. The air is different, the heat I'm feeling on my skin is burning, I can feel my adrenaline is pumping madness, so is my heart. Am I really trap in another world like those written on the website or something?' Asher mentally though of his current situation processed till now, until he heard a gunshot nearby their location. The little boy was startled and quickly rushed towards Asher but he tripped on something & his face felt down on the solid concrete.

Asher cursed himself and quickly rush towards those thick bushes on the sidewalk and gently dropped the little girl down. "Stay here, I'll get your brother soon. Don't move & make any sound". Asher quickly dashed away without waiting for the little girl reply.

As he runs towards the tripping boy who's whining in pain, but on his way to the boy, he can see several figures heading towards him. "Shit!" Asher quickly grabbed the boy and run towards the bushes where he dropped the little girl. He can see her head peeking from the bush.

"Argh!" The scream of pain & several gunshots fired were heard behind Asher, he quickly cut right behind the abandoned cars while still holding the boy within him and rush back to where the little girl is. Both kids hugged each other in relief and saw Asher gesture to be quiet with his index finger on his lips. They both nodded in reply.

Asher then saw the soldier of white uniform was getting shots from those green tight suit one by one, & one of the white uniform soldiers is nearby the bushes they been hiding which in a second got shot in the head and fall in front of them. But the people with green tight suit continue to fire their weapon, making the corpse in front of them filled with holes.

"Enough, don't waste your ammunition on corpses. Our mission is merely a distraction." One of the green tight suits pushed the guns away from one of their own. By the sound of it, must be their commander.

"These Natural scum deserved that, after what they did to Junius 7."

"Enough, we have a mission. Head to the next objective, private."

The so-called private kicked the poor corpse in front of their hiding and walked away. Asher and the kids give a big sigh of relief once they're gone. "Damn it, I almost thought they got us. You two ok?" The kids just nodded each other, clearly visible of their shaking in fear.

Asher nodded at that, he gave another relief sigh but frowned later at the scenes they witnessed just now. "Man...why are they even attacking this place? Heck, who were those guys in the first place anyway?" he asked to no one in particular.

"Those green people are from ZAFT, they're coordinators." The little boy replied to Asher which startled him a little. "Daddy said that they hate Naturals so much after the Bloody Valentine incident."

Asher looked at the kids who they hold their hands each other with worried expression written on their face. "Well, whoever they are. They don't seem to be nice people to talk too. You two ready?"

"You're not going to ask if we're coordinators or not? I mean most people asked that first" The boy asked

Asher was starting to get an idea of this Natural/Coordinator thing, but he still didn't really get it and preferred not to raise any suspicions. Besides, the whole thing sounded pretty dumb to him anyway, which showed in his answer. "Seriously? Then they're being a bunch of butt heads," he said, causing the two kids to snicker despite the situation.

The teenager crouched down again to pick up the little girl, but she declined, told that she's fine now and moving on. On their way, Asher saw a familiar figure ahead thanks to his enhanced eyesight which zoomed in the view. However, he saw a half broken sign written something like "evacuation" on the wall.

"Alright! We can get out of here and hopefully your parents safely escaped as well!" Asher said, the three of them quickly headed towards the evacuation point which is an elevator of some sort.

"Hello? Is anybody there?" Asher hoped that someone would reply or they're screwed sooner or later.

"Hello? Who is this?" Asher really wanted to jump for joy after hearing a voice coming from the intercom. A girl perhaps? Almost sounded like a guy.

"Oh thank goodness! We're civilians and I have two kids with me, they've been separated from their parents and almost gotten killed in the crossfire." Asher said. Hopefully, he'd be able to convince them to let them in, any more of this the children would be mentally scarred.

"Hang on, the elevator is coming up! Stay where you are!" Before hung up, Asher can hear some commotion at the end?

Minutes later, the elevator turned green and saw a person with blonde hair around shoulder cut.

"Thanks, whoever you are. Go on, you two." Asher gestured the kids to go first and they quickly complied with it. However, once the kids entered the elevator a sudden tremor hits which caused Asher to fall on his butt. A followed up explosion caused some of the supports above to collapse, and when the dust cleared, several I beams were blocking the way, preventing his exit.

"Onii-chan! Are you okay?!" the kids shouted in alarm.

"I...I'm okay," Asher said shakily. "I don't think I can get through here, and things are looking bad. You guys go on ahead first," he said.

"But-" Before the blonde haired girl finished her sentence, another tremor hits again. The crumbling dust from the ceiling falling down repeatedly.

Asher staggered a little from the tremor and regained his composure."There's no time! Quickly get them out of here! This place won't hold on! I'll catch up, okay!"

The blonde haired girl move on to the control panel, "You better catch up! Or I won't forgive you!" The elevator closed its lids, Asher can hear the kids screamed after that. At least, the kids were saved for now.

Okay...breath in breath out. He was calm...he was collected...he was...running around in circles like a headless chicken. "What do I do?! What do I do?!" Asher shouted in panic after the ones who had gotten into the evacuation area had gone ahead to safety as the path was completely blocked. As it was now, he had to hurry and get out of here before…

His train of thought was cut off by a large beam blasting a hole right through the...sky? Yeah, that beam tore a hole in the 'sky', revealing the blackness of space. Asher's color drained from his face.

"Wait...if this is space then…" as if on cue, the suction began.

"Gonna die! Gonna die!" he shouted as he started running. He was so terrified he didn't even notice where he was running until he ran into a wall...one with a telecom attached to it...and promptly vanished.

"...oh yeah...I forgot I could do this…" Asher blinked as he was once again in the cyberspace. But before he could sigh in relief, the entire space around him seemed to spark. That was when he remembered he's still inside of the computer. A computer inside space that was about to be destroyed that is. Fear renewing his strength, he ran/flew through the cyberspace, looking for ANY path he could find out before he's royally screwed.


	4. The White Knight Arrives

"Gangway! Out of my way!" Asher shouted frantically...despite there not actually being anything in his way...as he flew through cyberspace. Behind him was an expanding void as more and more computer systems were shut down, causing more of the cyberspace to fall apart.

Eyes frantically searching for any way out, he was all but ready to cry tears of joy when he saw it. A 'portal of light' signifying another comp system. Acting quickly, he steered himself towards the light, but rather than jump in, he felt a comp explode in the real world, the backlash propelling him forward...too fast for comfort. Going through the portal into a new comp, he was soon smashed like a bug on a windshield against a wall in the new comp. Slowly sliding down, he fell off and hit the 'ground', everything was happening so fast that he was out cold before he could fully register just what was happening.

[Flashback]

"Asher!"

"Hey, Asher!"

"Huh? Oh, hey Itsuki. What's up?" Asher snapped out of his thoughts. Looking around he realized he was in a room full of action figurines and a variety of posters all around. He was sitting on the floor in front of a huge LCD TV, around 40 inches. Asher saw Itsuki at the door holding a tray with two glasses on top of it.

"Jeez, stop the day-dreaming man. You were starting to scare me. Well anyway, I just bought a set of DVDs for another Gundam series. Although it's got some bad reviews, it's still pretty decent in some parts. Here, brought some drinks and snacks for our anime time." Itsuki said as he placed down the tray with two glasses of orange juice between himself and Asher, as well as a variety of snacks.

"Why can't we watch Digimon Tamers….?" Asher whined.

"Well, cause you lost our bet. So suck it up and don't make that puppy pout, it won't work on me." Itsuki said as he adjusted his glasses, making it glint with light.

Asher still continues to pout that he lost to Itsuki in a game of Jenga earlier. If it wasn't for his house cat, a 3-year-old Russian blue cat named Pete, deciding to jump on him when he did, he could have won the bet and thus they'd be watching Digimon Tamers at Itsuki's house as his house is not suitable for watching TV since it's also an office for his mom's detective agency.

But a deal was a deal, so now he was stuck watching this Gundam series that he didn't even bother following much. Sure it looked cool what with all the giant robots in action, but he still liked the Digimon series better. But still, he wasn't about to act like a sore loser, so making himself comfortable he sat back as Itsuki hit play on the series. Gundam SEED. The show wasn't bad per say, but it wasn't long before he was only barely paying attention, instead focusing more on munching on the snacks or checking his cell phone in secret for his Digimon post. The only time he was really paying any attention was during the fight scenes, and really just cause fights are cool.

* * *

 

[Present time]

Asher stirred slowly as he began to wake up. He was currently lying on the cyberspace ground, having been unconscious for a while. Eventually, his fingers twitched, while his eyes slowly opened, and blinked a few times.

"Urgh, my head…." Asher groaned as he tried to get up but his body registered a good deal of pain in his nerves. He groaned in pain as he rolled on his back. He looked around the cyberspace still intact, which means he manages to enter a new one much to his relief.

After a good few minutes, he tried to get up again. The pain is still there but not as intense as before. Asher looked at himself, glad that he's still in one piece.

"Well, now that I'm safe- correction, partially safe. Gotta found out what kind of server I'm in. Don't wanna jump out and end up getting shot at later." Asher said as he walked around, the cyberspace was big, too big for a single computer. He figured he was probably in something physically big like a huge building or something.

After taking a detour for a short time, he came across a panel sticking out openly. Asher raised his right palm and a holographic console appeared, one that looked like his own laptop's controls only holographic and more sci-fi-esque. "Sweet! Feels like I'm using a futuristic google page or something, first thing first is information. What the hell is going on here?" Asher said as he moved his hands on the hologram, trying to access some sort of database. Remarkably, there's no security or firewall, probably not protected or any too important.

But just as he was about to try and open the database, a sudden tremor occurred in cyberspace. "Seriously? Not again?!" Asher grumbled as he tried to regain his composure and make another run again, but stopped short when he heard an announcement.

"Alert! Alert! Enemy forces are inbound! Enemy forces are inbound! All hands to combat stations! All hands to combat stations!"

"Enemy? Combat station? Am I in a freaking warship?! Oh, just my luck!" Asher kicked the control panel out of frustration for his bad luck. The hologram glitched with static before revealing several screens showing people around.

"Wow, security cameras? Could I just be a peeping tom and wait for my death? Yeah, that sounds like a good plan." Asher said sarcastically, he then saw a familiar face inside some kind of metallic room or something, until he heard a voice.

"Kira Yamato! Strike, launching!"

"Kira? That guy in the university? What's happening?" Asher said

After a few good minutes, he managed to figure out how to work the controls more or less and shifted the image to see what was going on. What he saw was that the ship he appeared to be in was being attacked by several giant gunpla, four of them unique in appearance, while the rest looked the same. At the same time, he saw Kira inside of the Gundam looking gunpla fighting against another large gunpla, one that was red in color. However, it wasn't long before the red gunpla broke away and Kira was stuck fighting the blue one, leaving the ship to defend itself from the attacks of the other gunpla. All in all, he didn't see any real backup.

Asher was getting nervous as the Strike is getting overwhelmed by the opposition, he was wondering where the hell were the allies? Is Kira fighting alone? All of this didn't make any sense to him as Asher knew that Kira wasn't a soldier, something made more evident by how he was near frantically shooting with his beam rifle, trying in vain to hit his targets.

"Damn it! He's all alone and fighting for heaven's sake! This isn't some Gunpla Battle! He's getting killed out there!" Asher slammed his fist on the console in anger at what he was seeing, causing the screen panel to glitched up. What followed was unexpected, as the data on the screen disappeared and a screen popped up in front of him. Surprised, Asher tapped it, they showed what appeared to be data on Mobile Suit schematics, specifically certain blueprint information.

"This is...Gunpla?" Asher murmured, before his eyes widened, then dimmed as he suddenly went into a trance. In his eyes, a stream of light seemed to descend. The gloves on both his hands start to glow as Asher brought them up, revealing that the emblems of his gloves were glowing brightly with their respective colours.

At the same time, his GP Base appeared, and data began streaming out of it, one word sticking out. Digimon.

Asher's entire body started flickering with static, faintly showing the outline of a different figure over his human form, while the data from the ship began entering and mixing with the data from the GP Base, a large silhouette beginning to form over the GP Base, before seemingly being absorbed into it.

(Insert theme: Brave Heart)

Eyes snapping open, Asher suddenly moved on instinct. From his gloves, the crests of Courage and Friendship appeared and flew around him. As that was happening, Asher put his right hand forward. The two crests circled around and entered the GP Base, causing it to transform. The new device was a cell-phone like device that was predominantly white, with a blue side, and an orange ring around the screen with the two crests on opposite sides of the ring (A/N: It looks like a cross between the D-tector and the Applidriver). This was the G-Cyber Digivice. Grabbing hold of the Digivice, Asher ran his hand across the ring, causing it to spin. Pressing the button on the side, an Omega symbol appeared on the screen before Asher raised it up. A bright light came from the Digivice as for a split second two silhouettes could be seen behind him before he was encased in a cocoon of data and suddenly shot straight up into the 'sky'.

Back in the fight, things had taken a turn for the worst, as the Strike's power supply had run out, causing its Phase Shift Armor to fail, while the Moebius Zero was preoccupied with its own battle. On top of that inside the Archangel Bridge, the systems were going haywire as consoles sparked while controls lagged, making the already dangerous situation practically fatal at this point. The only saving grace for them was that as it was the enemy was already pulling back...mostly, so at least they didn't have to deal with this system error in the middle of an all-out battle. As such, it was not surprising that nobody noticed the orb of light that shot out of the Archangel just as the systems went back to normal.

As the orb flew towards the battle, it began to grow till it was the size of a mobile suit, headed right for the center of the fight.

"Gotcha!" Yzak Joule growled as he propelled his suit, Duel, forward, intending to slice the Strike in half. At the same time, Athrun Zala aimed to capture the mobile suit and save his friend in one shot. However, before either of them could do anything, the Duel was knocked back by an orb of light ramming into it, sending it tumbling back.

The fight grounded to a halt as all combatants were taken by surprise at the orb's sudden appearance. The moment their eyes were on the orb, it began to disperse, as something came into view from within. When the light finally faded, they saw what appeared to be a Mobile Suit. And not just any Mobile Suit either.

"Is that...another G-weapon?!" Lieutenant Murrue Ramius, the acting captain of the Archangel, gasped in surprise, while the rest of the crew looked in shock at the image on the screen. The new 'G-weapon' was mostly covered in milky white armor on the torso and the legs with a small yellow horn on both sides of the feet. The left arm was colored orange, with a shield that looked like it had three horns on both sides and the front of the shield. In contrast, the right arm was colored blue, the forearm was encased in armor that looked like the head of a robotic wolf. The head of the mysterious mobile suit had separated yellowfins and a white horn on the middle, a long white caped was pinned on the shoulder of the mobile suits itself and from underneath it a stream of green light particles was seemingly being generated. All in all, the new Mobile Suit had the image of a knight quite literally clad in shining armor.

"W-What is that?" Kira asked to no one in particular, his eyes wide in surprise and wonder at the sight of the new machine.

"Oi-oi, no one said anything about a sixth G-weapon! What's going on here?!" Dearka Elsman said.

"Be careful, we didn't know what capabilities it has," Nicol Amalfi cautioned.

At the sight of the new arrival, most didn't know what to think but seeing as it had attacked one of their own, the ZAFT forces decided that it was likely an enemy and opened fire. The missiles and lasers headed straight for the new arrival, but it soon proved useless as the Mobile Suit's eyes flashed before it...moved.

In a state of trance, a blade extended out of its left arm & moved it's blade to its right shoulder. There, a single word from the unknown source was heard over every communication channel. "Transcendent Sword!" a light ignited on the tip of the blade and the runes on the sword glowed, and with a single horizontal sweep, all missiles were destroyed while the beams were bounced back, destroying the arms and heads of several Ginn. The glowing runes on its blade died out as it lowered its blade.

The Mobile Suit then turned its eyes towards the assembled G-Weapons, as if watching them to see their next move. Unfortunately, that just served to tick Yzak off.

"Bastard!" Yzak roared both at the intruder's actions, and at how casually it dispatched their comrades.

"Yzak! Wait!" Athrun Zala shouted, but the impulsive pilot of the Duel had already covered the distance, beam sabers drawn. The mysterious mobile suit quickly dashed forward, ready to meet the charge. "Grey Sword!" a voice called out once more over the communication channels of all present, as the blade was raised, ready to intercept Duel. A flash signified the exchange between the two mobile suits...before the Duel's arms were cut clean off, followed by an explosion from the stumps, Yzak shouting as the system malfunctioned.

"Yzak!" Dearka shouted in alarm. "You bastard!" he growled as he joined together of Buster's weapons and took aim.

The mysterious mobile suit, simply pointed its right arm at the Buster, the barrel on top of the arm deployed downward in front of its fist, making it looked a cannon from the 'mouth' of the wolf head, a blue holographic portal forming, a symbol of yin-yang enclosed in an eye visible. Just as Dearka pulled the trigger, the voice rang out again. "Supreme Cannon!" an intense beam of energy shot out of the cannon, hitting and completely overpowering Buster's attack, and destroying its combined weapons while sending the Buster tumbling through space.

"What?!" Dearka gasped.

"Dearka, get out of the way!" Nicol shouted just as his Blitz dropped its Mirage Colloid, switching back to Phase Shift with its Trikeros aimed at the mysterious Mobile Suit. However, before he could fire, the suit moved again, and in an instant, the Blitz was missing an arm, the blade once again cutting through the Phase Shift Armor as if it were butter.

"No way…!" Nicol gasped at the sight of the damage, the G-weapons were supposed to be high resistance towards physical projectiles, how could a mere sword able to cut through it? Later on, he idly noticed it had been a precise cut to the Blitz's joint which had made Nicol gasped unbelievable on it.

Athrun saw this and grit his teeth. As it was, the situation had completely gone out of hand, and unbelievably, all because of this single mobile suit and also their machine is running out of power. "Dearka, Yzak, Nicol! We're pulling back!" he ordered, though he did spare a grateful glance at the mobile suit for inadvertently saving his friend, Kira. Turning the Aegis into its Mobile Armor form, the stolen G-Weapons quickly flew back to their ship.

Inside the Nazca-class destroyer Vesalius, Rau le Cruset, the commander of the Vesalius currently both furious and bewildered about this situation. Firstly, he's furious that his ship has been damaged by the Hawk of Endymion. Secondly, how come the Intel missed the unknown G-weapon that appeared suddenly? Not to mention that it easily disable a good number of his forces in one attack and also easily disable their red elite pilots.

'This is unexpected, how did we miss that G-weapon? No, rather...why wasn't it in the database we stole?

(theme end)

The battle had ended, but nothing happened, mainly because the entire crew of the Archangel is in a state of shock, so much so that if it were physically possible, their jaws would have hit the ground. A single Mobile Suit that appeared out of nowhere had just forced the ZAFT forces and the four stolen G-weapons to retreat from the battle.

Eventually, it was Sai Argyle who broke the silence, "Did that...really just happen?"

"I don't know, but whatever it was, it just saved us from ZAFT," Kuzzey Buskirk said shakily, having broken into a cold sweat throughout the whole incident.

"That unknown Mobile Suit is approaching the Strike!" Miriallia Haw reported, as true enough the mysterious mobile suit had turned and was now facing the direction of the Strike (which was still at dangerously low levels of power). Kira wasn't sure if he should be relieved that the ZAFT forces had left the area...or terrified that the Mobile Suit had its attention on him now.

Lieutenant Mu La Flaga quickly flew towards the two mobile suits with his Moebius Zero, just in case the worse case scenario, which was the mysterious mobile suit proved to be hostile, happened. However, just as the Archangel attempted to open communications with the mysterious Mobile Suit, it suddenly dispersed into countless particles and disappeared.

"I-it disappear?" Mu gasped, completely shocked at how the unknown Mobile Suit just disappear like that as he circled his Moebius Zero around the Strike. "Archangel, do you copy? I've secured the Strike. Doesn't look like there was any major damage aside from its drained power supply. Kid, can you hear me?"

"Y-Yes, I'm fine!" Kira replied, Mu and his friends letting out a sigh of relief after hearing Kira's voice. As the Moebius Zero and Strike approached the Archangel safely, Kira couldn't really describe how glad he felt knowing that his friends were still alive in one peace. Kira also noticed that everyone was talking about that mysterious knight-like Mobile Suit that saved them earlier and was half wondering if it had been just a dream or illusion to disappear like that. But that couldn't be right. The damage of the stolen G-Weapons had taken were far too real to have been a dream.

"Kira!" Someone called. Looking at the source, he saw his friends coming towards him with worried looks on their faces. His friends were asking him if he was alright after the last battle. Although he was still very much disturbed by the knowledge that his old friend was involved in the war and how terrifying the battle had been for him, he still told them that he was fine...even if that wasn't quite the truth, not wanting to make them worry more than they needed to.

"By the way, where's Sai?" Kira asked, noticing that he was not present.

"The Captain told Sai to take care of a few errands in the storage room. Want to come along and get him?" Tolle Koenig asked.

"Alright," Kira nodded. It was definitely a nice way to get his mind off of what just happened. "Maybe we can help him if he needs it."

With that, the group made their way to the storage area of the ship. But when they got there, they found Sai fiddling with the door controls. "Is something wrong?" Kuzzey asked when they got close.

"Huh? Oh, no not really," Sai said as he turned to face them. "The door controls seem to be malfunctioning. I can't seem to get the door to open," he explained.

"Huh, that is strange," Kira blinked. "Here, let me take a look," he said as he tried working on the console. As with Sai, when he tried inputting the command, it didn't respond. "Could the control have been damaged?" he mused wondering if it had to do with the previous battle. However, just as he said that...the lock disengaged.

"Huh...guess it was a delayed reaction…" was all Tolle could say at the odd sight.

"Well, anyway, thanks for the help," Sai said as he opened the door...and promptly moved out of the way as something fell out.

"What the…?!" Miralia gasped in surprise. Upon closer inspection, they saw that it was a human.

"Hey, isn't this guy…?!" Kira gasped.

"Do you know him?" Sai asked, as they did not recognize the boy that had been in the storage room, and was now currently out cold on the floor.

"Yeah...back in Heliopolis. I met him once not long before I got the Strike," Kira explained.

"He wasn't with the refugees...did he...stowaway on the ship?" Kuzzey blinked.

"We'd better call the captain," Mirialia said. She quickly headed outside looking for telecom to contact Murrue. While the boys were just standing idle at the front door, not knowing what they should do at this point, wondering if it's a good idea to try to help out or not.

A short while later, both Murrue and Mu arrived at the scenes. She ordered to bring the unconscious boy to the infirmary in order to check on his condition. They wanted to make sure he was okay first. With that in mind, she asked Kira and Mu to help move the boy to the said infirmary.

"You know, this kid could almost pass off as a girl. You sure he's actually a he?" Mu joked as he and Kira were carrying the boy along.

Kira didn't answer, but inwardly he couldn't help but agree that this boy could almost pass off as a girl if not for some...obvious...differences. However, the boy seemed to hear, as he suddenly jerked a bit, almost hitting Mu, as if on reflex.

Mu blinked in surprise at that. "...do you think he actually heard me?"

Kira just shrugged, not knowing what else to say or do.

Once they reached their destination, the boy was put on one of the empty beds, before they all left the room to let the Doctor do his job. Not long after, Murrue came over to the infirmary to see how their new guest was doing.

"How is he?" she asked.

"Well, the Doctor still hasn't said anything, but he should be done by now," Mu said, though he shrugged helplessly at the end as he really didn't know whether or not what he said was actually true.

Nodding at that, Murrue knocked on the door. From inside, the Doctor told her she could come in. Doing so, Murrue was in the room for a few moments before she came out.

"How is he?" Kira asked, genuinely concerned.

"The Doctor said he is fine. Aside from suffering from fatigue, there is nothing wrong with him," Murrue said.

Kira was glad to hear the news, but at the same time, he was wondering how he could get into the Archangel without anyone noticing him? How long had he been in the storage room? There were just too many things happening today that they just couldn't explain that it was starting to make his head hurt. Eventually, he decided he'd table them for now, as he could always ask questions later when he wasn't feeling completely worn out from the previous battle.

After few moments, they saw Kira's friends coming towards them.

"So...how is he?" Tolle idly asked.

"The Doctor said he's fine. It seems he passed out from fatigue, but other than that, there's nothing wrong with him," Murrue quickly answered.

"I guess that's what happens when you're trapped in a storage room for a few hours," Kuzzey said, a slight attempt at humor.

"I'd honestly like to know how he got into the ship without anyone noticing. He wasn't in any of the life pods we retrieved, and neither did we see him when we first boarded the Archangel," Murrue said. "Well, at this point there's nothing we can do until he wakes up."

The group just nodded at that. Not knowing what else they need to inquire, and the group later dismissed themselves. Kira followed his friend until he stopped and glanced back at the infirmary for some reason. He mentally smacked himself when he realized he'd been looking too long and went back to his friends.

* * *

 

Meanwhile, in the infirmary, Asher started to stir. "Huh? What?" he mumbled as he woke up. "Where...am I?" Asher slowly opened his eyes, slowly focusing his eyesight only to know that he's facing some sort of ceiling in front of him.

"You are currently in the infirmary of the Archangel," Asher startled a little, he turned the source of the voice on his left and it was come from a man in a military uniform and a lab coat, making Asher assume he was a doctor of some kind. "How are you feeling?" he asked

"I…" he started before moving around a bit, Asher slowly got up on the med bed and popping a few bones as he stretched his body and arms around a bit. "Actually, I feel like a million bucks," Asher said as he moved his head to both sides earning some popped bones as well.

The doctor nodded. "I see. I suppose that's understandable seeing as you passed out from fatigue."

"Fatigue, huh…?" Asher mused, shaking his head a little as his head still felt a little foggy. However, as it started to clear up, everything came back to him. The dive into cyberspace, finding his way into this ship...the Archangel...and more importantly, the battle and what he did. So shocked he was that he froze for a moment as he looked at his palms, only snapping back to reality due to the doctor's voice.

"So, we didn't find any ID on you, and we found you in the storage room. The captain will want to ask you a few questions, okay?"

Asher fought down the urge to squee at what he had just done early. Instead, opting for a confused look. "No ID? I had my ID card in my...wallet?" he blinked as he felt his pockets to find his wallet was missing. "The heck? My wallet's gone!" he groaned.

"You must have dropped it in Heliopolis," the doctor sighed. "Sorry to say kid, but it's likely space dust now."

"Mom's gonna kill me…" Asher groaned. He JUST got his allowance too...

"Anyway, I'm gonna need to report this to the Captain. You got a name, kid?" he asked.

Asher frowned but nodded all the same. "Asher. Asher Valentine," he said. 'I wonder what's going to happen to me later? Not to mention I'm having the urge to do a fanboy squeal right now! Maybe I'll do that after the doctor leaves me alone.'


	5. The Shell of Artemis

# At Nielsen Lab #

In a secluded room inside Nielson Lab, Kyoko was together with Inspector Matayoshi. The elder Inspector having been trying to get the suspect, Nishiki Satoshi, to speak. However, they have had no luck as the suspect continued to remain silent when questioned or had been wasting their time by repeating "I don't know".

The Inspector was getting frustrated and was seriously starting to consider using more...extreme measures to get through to him, but that would only jeopardize the investigation. Suddenly he felt something on his back, but when he turned around the only thing he saw was Kyoko leaning against the wall, and his gut suddenly told him that things were about to get ugly very soon.

Kyoko smiled, an almost angelic smile that for some reason sent chills down everyone's spine. "Now then, Nishiki-san. I hear you haven't been very cooperative with our investigation," she said as she walked closer to the suspect.

"Y...yeah, what of it?" the suspect tried to put up a brave front.

"You see, the victim just so happens to be my son," Kyoko said, and suddenly the room became colder by a few degrees. "I trust you understand just how far I'm willing to go to get him back," as she said that, her aura seemed to change. The smile was still on her face but her aura seemed to change. Right before the suspect's eyes...and everyone watching for that matter, a Hannya mask seemed to appear behind Kyoko, its forked tongue lashing around, its fanged grin filling them with fright...and was that demonic latin chanting they were hearing?!

"Okay okay okay! I'll tell you everything! Just don't kill me!" Nishiki shouted, feeling like he was about to wet and soil himself in fright.

"Good," Kyoko nodded, and the Hannya mask vanished just like that. Inspector Matayoshi wiped his sweat on his forehead after took off his hat. "Well then, Nishiki-san. It's best you tell us everything before…..the rooms gets any colder just now. You know what I mean?" as if to hammer in the point, Kyoko flashed another 'nice smile', causing Nishiki to pale again.

"Yes! Yes! I uploaded some malware into the system! But it was just a simple malfunctioning program bug! It was just supposed to crash the system! I don't know anything about the test player disappearing!" Nishiki also confessed that a rival company paid him a good sum of money for it. Just after that, the forensic team came in and reported to the Inspector. The inspector said the investigation showed that it really was just a simple malware program like the culprit said. After hearing this and theorizing the whole situation, she knew that something was not right about this incident.

She walked out from the interrogation room after thanking the Inspector as the investigation will continue tomorrow. On her way to her husband & Itsuki, she took out her cellphone and dialed a number. "Hello, it's me. I know it's been a long time but it's an emergency." A slight paused, Kyoko's eye widen in surprised for a short while. "Thank you, can we meet tomorrow at my office around afternoon? Alright, I'm sure Alex will be happy to see you too. See you tomorrow."

Kyoko ended the call and holster back into her pocket. 'Hang on, Asher. Mommy's going to rescue you no matter what the cost. If anything or anyone has harmed you, there will be hell to pay.'

# In the Archangel, SEED Universe #

It's been 2 days since Asher appeared in the Archangel. All in all, he can say that he'd never once expected something like this to happen to him in his entire lifetime. Asher had long realized that he wasn't in his own world, especially seeing as the pain he'd experienced a few times was far too real to be a dream. Not to mention that the words Gunpla & Digimon don't even exist and that these machines that look like Gunpla, Mobile Suits, are actual war machines rather than just figurines.

Now that he thought about it, this world looked just like one of Itsuki's Gundam anime, especially the one he had to watch with Itsuki after he lost that bet a while back. "Still kinda regret screaming like some fangirl after the doctor left the room the other day…" he sighed. Two days ago, when Asher woke up in med bay, right after the doctor left, he had scream rather loudly when the reality of what had happened hit him.

Not only had he turned into a life-size version of his Gunpla, but more importantly, when he fought he had done it exactly the way Omegamon did in his debut movie (Although he wasn't himself that time, it was like something had taken over him or something). All in all his inner fanboy had died and gone to heaven thanks to that.

Of course, right after he had screamed happily, he was greeted by numbers of security personnel, all armed, no doubt thanks to his scream. Right behind them were the doctor, one of the pilots on the ship named Mu La Flaga, and Kira and his friends. Needless to say, he was dumbfounded and utterly embarrassed by the experience and wanted nothing more than to bury that particular memory so deep he'd eventually forget it.

Following his discharge, as well as telling the crew that he can't remember how he got into the ship in the first place (well it's the truth anyway even in cyberworld). After understanding the situation a bit more, he decided to join the crew, albeit as a volunteer much like Kira and his friends, seeing as the ship was short-handed as it already was, so any help they could get was appreciated. Besides, the idea of sitting around and hoping things would be okay like the other refugees didn't sit well with him, not only because he wanted to help if he could, but also because he needed to find a way back home.

Of course, things didn't go quite as smoothly as he would have liked after that. Tugging slightly at his new uniform, he idly remembered the first job he got. After he volunteered he was put to work in the hangar as an assistant in helping the maintenance of the Moebius Zero. Now never let it be said that Asher was tech blind. In fact, he was pretty good with a computer and was even a competent hacker the few times he'd done tried it. Problem is, he was from the world that was more or less 21st Century. This was the Cosmic Era. Needless to say, the level of computers in this era was VERY different from what he was used to. His job at the time was simply to keep the tech team informed of the status of the Mobile Armor, but when he actually got to see the computers...the data went right over his head.

They were centuries ahead of what he was used to so much so that the data may as well have been gibberish to him. Heck, it got so bad that he had to resort to making it look like he was doing...something...each time one of the other crew members happened to be looking his way, randomly pressing the keys as he was unsure which key did what. Unfortunately, he ended up initiating the airlock release somehow, and in the ensuing panic, he proceeded to randomly mash the buttons.

The good news was he managed to stop the opening of the airlock. The bad news is that he kinda crashed the computer he was using in the process, and as if to add insult to injury, right as he said it wasn't as bad as it looked, the screen promptly exploded...somehow.

Asher had apologized many times after that. Fortunately, the incident was classified as an accident, and thus he wasn't charged with destroying military property. But thanks to that, he was removed from that position and reinstated to a...simpler job. An errand boy of sorts whose job was to help with the more...menial tasks around the ship. Overall, though, Asher wasn't complaining. Not only did this mean he wouldn't have to worry about anymore overly complicated machines, but it also made for more...flexible work.

So here he was, sorting things out in the hangar bay, and carrying supplies to the engineers or any other department. But mostly he spent his time on hangar bay since it was one of the busiest sections of the ship. Funny thing was that most of the engineers treated him well even after he almost spaced a number of them, having just brushed off the incident as a case of 'he's just a kid', so it was their fault for trying to have him handle the difficult and precise work. Sure it was true, but it did get a little annoying after a while.

"Hey, old man. Brought you the junk you asked for!" Asher said as he dropped the box full of mechanical tools.

"Thanks, kid. But stop calling me an old man! I'm only 31 for god's sake!" said a gruff looking man with a messy black hair. This is Petty Officer 1st Class, Kojiro Murdoch, the Chief Engineer of the Archangel crew.

"I'll stop calling you that when you stop calling me a kid!" Asher said as he playfully stuck out his tongue which resulted in Murdoch chasing after him. Seeing as Asher still wasn't used to the low gravity environment, it was easy for Murdoch to catch him, earning him a playful headlock and noogie.

"Ouch ouch ouch! Hey, watch it old man! That hurts!" Asher yelped in pain, struggling to break free from Murdoch's grip. Unfortunately, the low gravity made it such he couldn't get any decent footing, thus making it impossible to make use of the martial arts he had learned in the past.

"Unless you learn to stop calling me an old man, Kid! No pain, no gain! Gahahaha!" Murdoch said, his happy expression defying his threat. His fellow engineers laughed at the scene unfolding before them. Even since Asher joined the crew, the Archangel had gotten notably noisier and more lively. Murdoch probably would never admit it, but not just him...most if not all the crew members of the Archangel were growing to enjoy Asher's company. Somehow the boy just seemed to radiate positivity, cheerfulness, and even hope, something that felt like a breath of fresh air in the ship and for just a moment helped them forget the stress and fear that comes from being in the middle of a battlefield.

"That's the wrong way to use that term, you stupid old man! Ouch ouch ouch!" Asher retorted, right as Murdoch increased the pressure at that 'stupid' remark. He wasn't about to take that lying down.

"Says the idiot who doesn't even know how to use a computer!" Murdoch continued to twist his knuckle on Asher's head, and let it go as he remembered he had to give a report to the bridge about the repairs & supplies. "Here, take this to the bridge! After that, you're duty-free until we need a hand," Murdoch said as he smacked the report holder on Asher's face, earning him a satisfying yelp from the teenager.

Asher grabbed the report holder with a slightly bruised nose and float away after whispering, "Lazy old man". Despite the choice of words, he had a small smile on his face. Really, for all the trouble he caused at times there wasn't any real animosity at all between them. With that in mind, he made his way to the bridge to give the report from the Engineering Department.

"Here are the reports from the old man," Asher said as he placed the report down by Murrue's side. "Looks like all the repairs are done, so Mu-san's ship will be able to fly next time we get in a fight," he reported.

"Good to hear," Murrue nodded. "Is there anything else?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Asher said slightly as he shrugged his shoulder, before idly looking around the bridge. "By the way, about that supply shortage...what are we going to do about it? It's only a matter of time before the old man will start nagging about not having enough materials to fix stuff, not to mention when we run out of food and water," he asked. Of all the things going on the Archangel, the shortage was one thing he was really worried about. Enemy attacks at least he could still beat up. Supply shortage? Not so much. He couldn't exactly make hunger and thirst go away by beating stuff up.

Murrue took a few moments of silence after she relieved a sigh, to Asher it sounded like a stressful sigh, to which he was wondering if is she is having a bad day or did he pick a bad time to ask such questions. Thanks to the number of his times his mom's client would visit their office home, sometimes he would sneak a peek and listened in on the conversations, leading to him developing a good sense of judgment for a person's emotions based on body language. "We're directing Archangel towards one of the Eurasian Federation's installations. The Asteroid Fortress, Artemis. As the Eurasian Federation is supposed to be our allies, we're hoping they'll be willing to give us some supplies," she explained.

Asher noticed the atmosphere is getting moody all of sudden and several of the flight crew expression slightly frowned after hearing it. Knowing it's best not to further their stress anymore, Asher decided to dismiss himself. "I see, thanks, captain. Pardon me."

Asher exited himself out leaving the flight crew alone in the bridge, as he given a free time, for the time being, he still had no time to study about this universe he's into. So far, he managed to grasp common info that Coordinators were enhanced genetic engineering individuals, while the normal people like him are called Naturals and the reason of this conflict is due to a mass murder of Coordinators called The Bloody Valentine. With that in mind, it was no wonder everyone gave him strange looks whenever he introduced himself at first.

But he can't shake the gut feeling that there's something more about this conflict than the usual genocidal maniacs. His thirst for the truth was something he inherited from his mother, and he had a sneaking suspicion that EA were the ones who made the first move of this war, though the crew on this ship sure didn't seem like the genocidal type.

He went to his quarters, which was a simple small single room over in the corner which happened to be empty. Perfect for him since no one would bother him and/or witness him 'jacking in' to the ship's system. Asher wanted to lock his room but he didn't want to raise any suspicion, so he hoped that no one will enter his room as he won't take too long anyway. He raised his right hand on the terminal on his desk and bring himself into the cyberworld of his room.

"Man, I think I'm gonna be worse than a shut-in if I spend too long in this kind of place, hehehehe. Now then, back to business." Asher said as he leaped up and flew away reaching his destination, the Archangel's memory bank which contained a good deal of information. Maybe now he could find some of the answers he needed and better understand how best to deal with this universe later.

It didn't take too long as Asher had found a shortcut to the memory bank during one of his journeys into the ship's systems. He landed on the cyberworld ground and looked at the same terminal he had interacted with the first time he was in the system.

Once again he opened the terminal and panel screen appeared, searching for the ship's database and opened the files one by one and brief through everything he can. However, one thing that always got him worried whenever he brought up news files and the like...was the organization called Blue Cosmos. Seriously, any idiot could have told him they were bad news with their 'for a pure and blue world' motto. How anyone could agree with them was beyond him. Being wary of Coordinators, he could understand. Wanting to wipe them all out...he drew the line at genocide.

"Come to think of it, why did ZAFT attack Heliopolis? I mean, the data says that place is supposed to be Neutral," he mused as he was busy reading. "Then again, Neutral colonies aren't supposed to be making weapons…" he conceded, remembering the Gunpl...Gundams. He had to remember now, these weren't Gunpla anymore, they were real live Gundams. All in all, this whole thing smelled fishy to him. Why was Heliopolis making weapons? How did ZAFT know about them? Heck, why the heck did someone thinks shooting a nuke at a space colony was a good idea?! "Argh! This just doesn't make any sense!" he said in exasperation, even comically throwing his hands upward. Quickly calming down though, he sighed. "Well, not much I can do about it right now. Guess I'll just keep learning more about this world...dang I wish I had paid attention when Itsuki had me watching the show…"

While Asher was busy doing his own thing, the Archangel had reached its current destination. At first, things seem to go relatively well. They were allowed into the fortress without much if any fuss. However, when they got in, that's when things went wrong. The moment they opened their airlocks, soldiers all but swarmed into the Archangel, catching everyone onboard at gunpoint.

"Nobody moves around! Put your hands in the air, where I can see them!" the voice from the video feed from the security camera caught on live, Asher wasn't expecting this sort of welcome for an ally. "What the hell? Why are they treating them like a stranger? Aren't they suppose to be allies?!"

Asher continued to watch the feed, it seemed that they hauled off everyone from the ships including the refugees. "Something doesn't seem right, I'd better investigate what the hell is going on here!" Asher said as he closed the Archangel terminal and flew away. He needed to find an access point to the Artemis system, but he needed to find a clear exit without being spotted by anyone.

When Asher arrived at one of the exit points of the Archangel's system, he saw a control panel nearby to which he opened an interface again to gain access to the security camera. It seemed like he was nearby the emergency exit in the hangar, but it was completely blocked by the soldiers patrolling the area.

"Damn it! How am I supposed to get into their system with soldiers crawling everywhere?!" Suddenly a portal of light appeared beside him, Asher turned around and was bewildered where it came from. He approached it to get a closer look, only to find that it was tagged as...the Artemis wifi connection named. It made Asher sweat drop at the...interesting name choice.

"Oh well, at least I don't have to worry about getting into their system now. Now time to find out where they held the Archangel crew and their motives." Just when Asher finished he jumped into the portal and arrived inside a cyberworld with a turtle shell theme with the words 'Artemis' and 'Eurasian Federation' everywhere.

# At space nearby Artemis

A single Laurasia-class warship, the Gamow was standing by in space with Artemis in its sight. Inside of this ship, Yzak, Dearka, and Nicol were having a briefing about Artemis' unique defense system, as well as brainstorming a way to get past it.

"The umbrella defense system they use is shielded against all sorts of lasers & projectiles. Of course, the same logic applies to the user as well," A Gamow captain explained, referring to the simulation diagram of the Artemis shield system to the three elite pilots.

"So in other words, they won't attack us with that shield on? It's kind of ridiculous when you think about it." Dearka commented, he really thought what's the point of protecting themselves if they couldn't use their own weapons as well inside the shield.

"Tch, they're just cowards! That shield is perfect for them!" Yzak said at the thought of the Naturals hiding behind those shields like the cowards they are.

"But it's first class as a defensive weapon, hence why it was given the nickname Turtle Shell due to its impenetrable defense. Not to mention it not being in an important strategic position, our forces pretty much ignore it to this point. We currently have no viable means to break through that Turtle shell. They've sure gone into a troublesome spot." The Gamow captain finished with a sigh of annoyance.

"Then what should we do? Wait for the legged ship to come out?" Dearka chuckled at the possibilities.

"Stop joking around, Dearka! When the commander returns do you want to give a report that says we were idling around doing nothing? That would be a total disgrace!" Yzak said which caused Dearka to look away.

"The shield isn't open up all the time right, captain?" Nicol asked as it is logical to think that the power source of the shield would run out eventually if not recharged.

"No, it's not normally activated unless there is an enemy presence in the area. However, even if we did approach it when the shield is offline, they'd notice us before we even get close to the fortress and activate the shield." The captain said, while Dearka just shrugged.

"My machine, The Blitz might be able to pull it off." The words coming from Nicol had to earn everyone's curiosity. "My Blitz had an interesting function aside from Phase Shift armor," Nicol said

"Let's hear it, Nicol," Yzak said and Nicol told them about his plan.

Later in space, the Artemis control station detected the Gamow turning tail and leaving from Artemis' range.

"Seems like they've given up, deactivate the shield now. We need it to recharge soon." The Artemis shield soon deactivated to conserve energy, while they didn't know that ZAFT had a plan to counter the infamous Artemis shield.

Back in the Gamow, Nicol had explained that the Blitz had a system called Mirage Colloid, a function that rendered the suit virtually invisible to detection. According to the data they had gotten from his machine, the unit was mainly intended for stealth missions. In other words, hit & run tactics.

He knew that as long as nothing malfunctioned, he wouldn't have to worry about destroying the Artemis shield generators. However, one thing did worry him, thanks to what Dearka said.

"Heheh, when Nicol manages to destroy the shield's projectors, I wonder if that knight-like G-weapon will save them like a knight in shining armor." Dearka joked. However, all that earned was a few angry looks, with Yzak's being the most intense as it reminded him of his humiliation.

"That damn Mobile Suit! If it weren't for him & Athrun being a coward, I could deal with the Strike & that thing!" Yzak slammed his fist with frustration on the briefing table, causing the monitor to break out in static for a moment. He was still sour about how he was beaten easily. If only they hadn't taken so long with the Strike, he could have had enough power in his machine to fight that mysterious mobile suit.

'Yeah...you could take him alright…' Nicol couldn't help but think with a hint of snark. Considering that Mobile Suit had disarmed the Duel...literally, somehow he was pretty sure the only way that would end is the Duel come back as pieces. Thinking about it caused his hand slightly shaking the possibilities of them being killed.

"Is something on your mind?" The captain asked, Nicol just brushed it off and went to the hangar where the Blitz was docked without a single word, leaving the people clueless as to what happened to Nicol.

"That Dearka really needs to stop telling bad jokes. I would rather face the Strike instead of that unknown Mobile Suit," Nicol sighed before resuming the process of checking on his suit's systems and the Mirage Colloid. It was only a matter of time before his mission started and he wanted to be as ready as possible.

# Artemis Cyberworld #

After Asher successfully entered the Artemis' cyberworld, he had to travel a bit to find the control panel of this cyberworld system. Fortunately for him, the panel is right in front of his view. "Huh? Talk about convenient." Asher said as he approaches the terminal, surprisingly for him, the security is pretty lacking, probably they thought their system is very safe from hackers with their force shield on. "First thing first, camera rolling." Asher tapped a camera icon and shows the camera feed of this installation. From what he saw it seems that the top brass, Murrue,Mu and Ensign Nartale Badgiruel (one of the crew members he….didn't really get along with sadly) seem to be in the 'guest room', while the refugee as well as the Archangel crew together with the soldier's holding up in another room

"That's weird, where's Kira? He doesn't seem to be with his friends." Asher said as he keeps looking and found out that he was at the docking bay after switching several cameras. Asher saw that Kira was being…'escorted' to the Strike by several military personnel, including one guy with a hat and bald head...which somehow just screamed 'I'm important'. Increasing the volume of the feed, he listened in on the conversation.

"You just want me to unlock the OS, right?" Kira said, glaring at the Commander.

"For starters, but you're capable of doing many other things, right?" the Commander said.

"Okay, I'm already not liking this guy, where's my book of mean pranks when I need one?" Asher growled.

"What do you mean?" Kira seemed a little confused.

"For example...you could analyze the structure of this thing and build another, or make a weapon that is effective against these kinds of Mobile Suits," the Commander said, gesturing to the Strike.

"Oh, he did not go there," Asher growled, knowing full well how Kira felt about this whole thing.

"I'm nothing but a civilian student," Kira responded. "I'm not a soldier, nor a military contractor. There is no reason why I should have to do such a thing!"

"But you are a traitor to the Coordinators," the smirk on the Commander's face made Asher's blood boil.

"Oh he did NOT just play that card," Asher gritted his teeth, a feeling that only grew the moment he saw what those words did to Kira.

"A traitor?" Kira was stunned at the words.

"I have no idea why, but regardless you betrayed your own people didn't you? In which case…" the Commander continued. It took all of Asher's self-restraint to not just materialize Omni Gundam and ram the Transcendent Sword up the arrogant Commander's ass.

"You're wrong!" Kira cut him off, but the Commander didn't care.

"As a Coordinator taking sides with the Earth Forces, you're very valuable. There's nothing to worry about. You'll be treated well. Even in Eurasia," he finished with another smirk.

"Okay, that's it. Before we get out of here, I'm so gonna messing this place up for them being a total jerk," Asher decided...right as he noticed a crane nearby, one that was really quite large, no doubt used to help in repairs or manufacturing of ships. "And I think I just got an idea how…" the grin on Asher's face was now absolutely evil.

Biding his time, Asher continued to monitor the situation. Turns out with a bit of...tinkering, he was able to connect back with the Archangel and see that so far the refugees and crew were still okay...even if they were being held as hostages. Same went for Murrue, Mu and Natarle. Aside from being trapped in a room, they were okay. Kira on the other hand, was now inside the Strike (the cockpit was still open), working on something, no doubt the OS lock, with a soldier with a gun standing by. Seeing that, Asher immediately began working on hacking into the crane. One good thing about sci-fi based worlds, nearly everything had some kind of internet connection and seeing as he was inside the main system of Artemis, he had access to all computers in the base.

"Now then, time to make some preparation. Oh~ I can't wait for this place gone to one hell of a party!" Asher grinned evilly, yup he was so gonna looking forward to it.

# Outside of Artemis perimeters #

Nicol had successfully managed to get close to the Artemis outer layer without anyone noticing after activating his Blitz's Mirage Colloid function. His objective was to destroy the shield generators as well as cause chaos as he could, thus allowing Yzak and Dearka to join in on infiltrating the base. With that in mind, he took aim and fired. The beam lanced towards Artemis, and an explosion occurred where it hit. Following that he repeated the process, aiming for several different spots each time.

Several moments passed as he peppered the base with laser shots, but strangely enough...there didn't seem to be any reaction whatsoever. "Well...so far so good…I think," he muttered.

"Now all that's left is to find the legged ship, Yzak and Dearka probably deployed soon….I wonder if that white knight will be here?" Nicol said as he sincerely hoped that the mysterious G-weapon is not around, disregard that thoughts, Nicol destroyed one of the projectors and flew away.

# Artemis Cyberworld #

"Just a bit more...a little bit more...and...got it!" Asher cheered a little when he gained control of the crane, controls that reminded him of the Gunpla Battle controls appearing. "Okay, sit tight everyone, I'll get you all out of here," he said, as he began moving the crane. Inching it slowly, he made sure nobody noticed it. Not hard, seeing as everyone was focused on the Strike. When he deemed he was close enough...he decided to go for it. Remembering something he once saw online, he decided now was a good a time as any for that. "Leeroy Jenkins!" he shouted as he hit the proverbial accelerator.

Back in the real world, the soldiers were caught off guard when they heard the sound of an engine firing up. Turning to the source, they were met with a crane rushing towards them at full throttle.

"What the fuck?!" several of them shouted as they scattered, trying to get out of the way of the runaway vehicle. The ones who couldn't dodge were the ones who were guarding Kira, and they were unceremoniously knocked out of the way by the crane.

Kira was surprised when he saw what happened. However, in the midst of his surprise, he saw someone was contacting him. "Get the Strike moving, if you want to live!" the voice said.

Kira was surprised when he heard the voice. For one, it had been so heavily altered that he definitely didn't recognize it. Furthermore, as things were he didn't know what to do. "What? Who is this?"

"No time to lose! I'll distract them. Now get moving!" the voice ordered, while the crane is still chasing after the fleeing soldiers, just as the Commander was contacting the main control room demanding to know who was in the crane.

"Sir! We've found an unidentified signal coming from...inside Artemis! Whatever it is, it's controlling the-" the com cut off.

"Hello?! What's going on in-" before the Commander could finish, a gratingly annoying sound started blaring over their comms.

"Nyan nyan nyan nyan!" Anyone familiar with the song that was now blaring over all of Artemis' communication lines would have recognized it as the Nyan Cat song. It was at this moment that the explosions began.

To say Artemis was in chaos would be an understatement. Outside, sudden explosions were wrecking the base, while inside, all communications had all but been crippled as all the soldiers and personnel could hear through their comms was that utterly annoying song blaring at full blast. So annoying was the song, the crew in the Archangel was given the opening they needed and quickly disarmed their captors who were too busy trying to get their hearing back after the song started blaring, before moving to regain control of the Archangel.

Over in the 'guest room', things were...strange.

"What the hell is this?!" Mu demanded as he, Murrue, and Natarle were covering their ears, while the room shook from the explosions.

"Are we under attack?" Natarle growled, her ears ringing from both the song and the explosions.

"I can't tell!" Murrue grimaced. The sad part was it wasn't a lie. She really couldn't tell what was going on with this infernal song blaring all over the base. Everything was shaking...right before the door opened by itself.

"Huh...convenient," Mu could only blink, before the three of them nodded in silent agreement and ran out of the room, as the guards stationed had left their post, hoping to get to the command room to figure out what the heck was going on today.

Outside the base, Nicol had hacked into the Artemis system, curious as to why his attacks hadn't garnered any response. Being this close and with the shield down, it was possible for him to do. He opened the connection for a moment...and promptly shut it off when the annoying song started blaring through the Blitz. "What the hell was that?!" was all the normally polite boy could say in utter bewilderment. Eventually, he just shrugged and started destroying the shield generators anyway. He REALLY didn't want to know why the Nyan Cat song was being played at full blast inside the Artemis' system.

Back inside, Kira had chosen to listen to the voice's instructions, especially once the shaking and explosions started. It was a simple matter to have the Strike rip free from its restraints, and with the base in utter chaos, there was little to nothing stopping him from getting away. Even the Commander's voice was being drowned out by the song that was now echoing all over the base. "If this is that voice's doing...I hope we never have him as our enemy," was all Kira could say. Heck, he'd closed the Strike's cockpit JUST to block out the sound and walked away ignoring the cries from the Commander trying to stop Kira.

Moving to the docking bay, Kira quickly equipped the Sword Striker Pack, as the explosions wracking the base implied that they were under attack.

True enough, Nicol had entered the base with their shield system down, Artemis proved to be...very weak. Even the barrage of lasers from the inside failed to hit him even once, which is more than what the Mobile Armors could say seeing as they were being destroyed before they could even start to fight back. As such, it wasn't long before he found his target. The Archangel still docked in Artemis, as the crew had only just started the engines again. "Found him," he said, just as the Strike emerged. "I won't let you get away this time!" he said as he was about to fight.

However...Asher was currently back in the Archangel's cyberspace, but even now he still had control of the crane from before and he decided to mute the Nyan cat song as explosions occurred everywhere. A full blast nyan cat song plus with explosion was just plain overkill. Seeing the Blitz arrive, he figured now was a good time as ever to make use of his new toy...for the last time anyway. "Time to make an entrance!" Asher pushed the accelerator system of the crane controls to the limit, on the outside the crane's wheel screeching and sped off towards unexpected Blitz.

"BANZAI!" his voice, now modulated again, rang out through the comms, before the crane from before promptly rammed into the Blitz which catches Nicol off guard. Unsurprisingly the crane exploded on contact, has not been strong enough to stand up to the Phase Shift Armor. Of course, the shock from the impact still knocked the machine out of the air, giving Kira and the Archangel an opening.

...now if only Kira and the rest of Archangel weren't staring blankly at the scene, all of them wondering if they seriously saw that happen. Kira was starting to wonder if they had a maniac helping them because these tactics were just too...insane.

"Hey, if you guys are done gawking, you might want to start running!" the voice from before called out over their comms.

"Who is this? How did you get into our communications?!" Murrue said as she, Mu, and Natarle had gotten back to the ship.

"The same way I got the entire base hooked on this lovely song," the voice retorted. "Now as I told Kira over there, get this ship running if you want to live!"

"Captain…" Natarle cautioned.

"I know, but we don't have a choice. Archangel, launch!" she ordered.

"Roger!" the crew all said.

"Kira, please hold off the Blitz until we're ready to launch," Miriallia said over the comms.

"Understood," Kira said as he launched the Strike, ready to fight the Blitz. Kira saw the Blitz immediately charging towards him with his beam saber activated on Trikeros, without wasting any time, Kira did the same while raising his activated anti-ship sword 'Schwert Gewehr', both blades soon clashing.

Both the Strike and Blitz exchanged blows in mid-air, sparks flying as the two blades clashed again and again before entering a blade lock, the sparks intensifying. Nicol was a bit agitated from the realization that the Strike's pilot was much better than he thought, making him a notable threat other than just that mysterious mobile suit. With that in mind, Nicol broke the blade lock and deactivated his saber as he put some distance between them. Acting quickly, he fired off three shots from his beam rifle aimed at the Strike.

Kira backed off to gain some space to dodge the shots. With a slight grunt of frustration, he retaliated by firing the "Igelstellung" 75mm Multi-barrel CIWS head Vulcans towards the Blitz who dodge them all, being at a disadvantage in long range combat as he had very few options in terms of long-range weaponry when using this Pack. Furthermore, it was all useless against the Phase Shift armor.

After dodging the Strike's CIWS, Nicol fired off his Gleipnir towards the Strike, predicting that the Strike would be suffered a delayed action after firing off the CIWS. But Kira immediately gained control and quickly fired his own rocket anchor Panzer Eisen towards the Blitz's anchor, both weapons clashing with each other and retracting to their respective owner as the Blitz still hovered in the space, while the Strike made a landing and eyed its foe while explosions engulfed their surroundings.

Meanwhile, inside the cyberworld, Asher still had some connection to the Artemis camera's (most had been destroyed) to search for any remaining crew members and/or refugees that could have been left behind in the chaos. A few moment of his search, and checking the list of personnel he got from Archangel's database yielded good results. "Alright! Everyone is on board! Now that the black Gundam is here, fingers crossed that those other 3 will not be here, please?!" Unfortunately, he seemed to jinx it as he saw the Duel and Buster (though thankfully no Aegis) almost wipe out the Artemis's forces. At this rate, they'd be here in a matter of moments and join up with the Blitz. "Damn it! At this rate, Kira will be in trouble!"

Asher's thoughts were cut off by a sudden scream coming from Kira's com, as he saw he was knocked off balance by the Blitz. "Kira! Damn it, I gotta help him! How do I change again? That's right the Digivice-like device!" Asher tried to remember back bits by bits from his memories, which wasn't easy seeing as it felt more like a lucid dream than anything. However, he tried what he could and focused on the memory of the Digivice. A small wisp of data gathered in his hand, before a flash of light shone and in his palm, the G-Cyber Digivice appeared. "I'm counting on you." Asher said, raising it up "Come out! Omni Gundam!"...but nothing happened. "Uh...okay...how did this go again?" he mumbled, fiddling with the device. It was only when he moved the ring again did it hit him. "Oh right!" he said as he pressed his hand to the side of the ring, and spun it. Pressing the button, the Omega symbol appeared on the screen.

Raising it up, he couldn't help but smirk. "Let's go...Omni Gundam!" he said, right as the world turned white, as the light from the Digivice engulfed him. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself floating in what appeared to be a wireframe sphere colored white inside a void. Looking around, he couldn't help but liken it to the Matrix Evolution from Digimon Tamers...though with clothes, seeing as he checked himself to make sure. "Well, at least I'm not naked. That would be too weird." Looking forward, a 'screen' appeared, as he saw the world through the eyes of his Gunpla...no, his Gundam now. Without wasting any time, Asher dashed towards the battle with his Grey Sword drawn.

(insert Brave Heart)

Back in the fight, the Blitz had fired its Gleipnir at the Strike. However, just as the attack was launched, a bright light appeared in the room, momentarily blinding all present, before the Gleipnir was destroyed, having been cut in half.

"What?!" Nicol gasped, and when his vision cleared, there in front of the Strike was the mysterious Mobile Suit from before, its sword is drawn with the runes on the blade glowing brightly. The moment the machine's eyes locked onto him, he felt a shiver go down his spine. It didn't help that it now had its sword pointed at him.

"You…?" Kira gasped, not expecting to see the Mobile Suit again.

Likewise, the Archangel crew was as surprised as he was. "That Mobile Suit again…!" Murrue gasped.

"Captain, your orders?" Natarle said. Even if she herself was surprised by the sudden appearance, this was no time to be gawking.

That got Murrue back to her senses. "Continue maneuvering and prepare to launch! We have to get out of Artemis!" she ordered.

"You...are you here to help us again?" Kira couldn't help but ask. As if the suit heard him, it turned and nodded slightly...before it moved again, charging forward towards the Blitz.

Nicol grit his teeth when he saw the suit attack. Pulling out his machine's beam saber from the Trikeros, he managed to block the mobile suit's sword, leaving them both in an intense blade lock, sparks flying and illuminating the faces of the two mobile suits.

Nicol growled as his suit strained against his opponent. Even now warning signs were appearing on several screens as he was slowly being pushed back. True enough, the beam saber shorted out as the blade broke through it, and hit the Blitz on the chest. Unlike last time, this strike wasn't full power, so the Phase Shift held...barely.

"Nicol, where are you?!" Yzak appeared on one of the screens inside Blitz cockpit. Before Nicol could answer, he needed to rebalance his machine from that strike early. "Not right now, Yzak!" Nicol finally regained his balance, but he found it weird that the mysterious mobile suit didn't take the chance to strike him down.

Despite all that Asher still remain idle, mainly because he finds it no reason to strike someone who was defenseless...okay, he knew that tactically it was a smart move, but he had morals and standards, and he'd be damned before he let an anime world change that. Not to mention, they're not really his enemies in the first place. They weren't bad people...just playing for the other team that's all.

Nicol wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth, and once he regained his balance, aimed and fired the Lancer Darts at his opponent. However, instead of blocking them like he thought he would, his opponent revealed the cannon in its right arm deployed from the attached forearm again. Inside the cyber cockpit, Asher saw his right arm had two icons, one depicted the wolf head firing some ball labeled GARURU CANNON, while the was other labeled as SPECIAL: SUPREME CANNON, shows the icon of a long thick bar from the wolf's head.

'This might do the trick!' Asher thought as he raised his arm. On the outside, the gunpla followed suit. On his mind, he selected the Garuru Cannon icon and highlighted and his vision had the usual crosshair for aiming like in many video games. After the crosshair turned red, Asher called his shot.

"Garuru Cannon!" the voice rang out again, as a blue blast fired from the cannon. The attack hit the Lancer Darts...and promptly froze them solid, leaving them to float harmlessly in space.

"What?!" Nicol gasped in surprise, before his machine shook, as a second shot had hit his right arm, the arm and the Trikeros frozen solid and the machinery rendered dead by the sudden cold. "Dammit!" he growled as he tried to draw his beam saber...but the weapon's circuits was also completely frozen by the attack. The next thing he saw was the Mobile Suit with its sword drawn, now pointing its sword directly at his cockpit.

"Surrender," the voice simply said.

(end theme)

Nicol assessed the situation...and knew he really had only one option. So with that in mind, he opened his cockpit and raised his arms in surrender.

Asher for his part was surprised...and quite disturbed to see that the pilot of this machine was not only a teenager but younger than him and Kira at that.

Kira on his part was also surprised to see the pilot, but before he could do anything, he was hailed by the Archangel and bring in the Blitz and the prisoner as well, which was ready to basically get the hell out of this place. As if to further illustrate how important that was, ANOTHER explosion happened.

However, this explosion was different. After all, explosions didn't come with the shout of "Bastard!" nor did they usually get followed by blue mobile suits barreling out like an angry bull. It's target: the white mobile suit.

"Watch out!" Kira shouted over the comm, the Duel fired off the grenade launcher from his rifle that aimed towards the white mobile suits.

"You idiot!" Asher quickly moved away from Blitz and intercept the grenade launcher by freezing it with Garuru Cannon. If he didn't act fast to freeze it, the blast radius could have hurt the Blitz's pilot inside the cockpit but suddenly a green beam was fired at him. Asher tried to dodge, but he didn't have the chance to as the beam made contact with his armor, dealing a direct hit to the right shoulder before he can.

"Gotcha!" Dearka cheered as he made a direct hit on the white mobile, however his smile turned into shock when he saw that the mobile suit was still in one piece, except for the small crack around the edges of the armor. "What the heck is that armor made of?!" he gasped, as that shot should have blasted right through the armor.

"Nicol get out of here!" the hot-blooded pilot shouted to his comrade.

Nicol didn't need to be told twice, it was clear his machine wasn't able to fight anymore, so he wisely decided to get out of the way.

At the same time Kira gritted his teeth seeing their ally suddenly outnumbered, but before he could move to help, the white mobile suit stopped him with its sword. Kira looked at it in surprise, but it just shook its head at him. "You...want me to go?" he asked, earning a nod.

"Go, protect your friends," the white mobile suit said before it flew forward to face the two stolen G-Units. Kira watched him go, unsure what to do.

"Kira! Hurry! We need to go now!" Miriallia called over the comms, snapping him out of this moment.

"U-Understood," he said, before taking one last look at the three fighting Mobile Suits and flying towards the Archangel, entering just as it left Artemis.

Getting out of the Strike, Kira all but ran towards the bridge, and once he got there, he was in time to see the Artemis be engulfed in the biggest explosion yet, just as he noticed the stolen G-weapons get out before the explosion. As for the white mobile suit...there was no sign of him.

A stunned silence fell over the bridge. "He...he got out, right?" Tolle asked. Even if they didn't know much about that white mobile suit, it still saved them twice. None of them wanted to see whoever was piloting it die.

The tension in the air was promptly killed when the door opened, and in came Asher Valentine...with a foot stuck in a bucket. Everyone blinked when they saw that.

"...don't ask. I had to hide in the cleaning closet when those Artemis soldiers came," he grumbled. He didn't want to remember how he got his foot stuck in a bucket.

"Well, as glad as we are that you're okay too, you really need to be more careful, kid. You could hurt yourself one of these days," Mu awkwardly said as he walked over to Asher and patted his right shoulder, only earning him hisses of pain from the boy. The Lieutenant backed away, "Are you hurt, kid? I didn't mean it!" Mu raised his hands in defense.

"Don't worry about it, I think I bumped on something or whatever hit me without realizing until now. I think I'll go take some ice pack and probably some painkillers just in case from the doctor." Asher said as he exited the bridge. He arrived at the medical lab and when he asked for ice packs and some painkillers, the doctor wanted to inspect the injury but Asher brushed it off as nothing serious and walked away.

Once Asher entered his room, he took off his engineering uniform, reveal a red bruise on his right shoulder and placed the ice pack on his right shoulder. "Well, I guess it makes sense that I can feel the pain. After all, we are one, ain't that right Omni Gundam?" He remembered that he had taken a hit on the shoulder from the Buster. At first, it didn't feel anything probably due to the armor platings, but when he reverted back to himself, it seemed the damage from his gunpla was slowly registering onto his body as a side effect.

"I wonder if Omni Gundam's limbs were to be destroyed, will I end up amputated as well?" he shivered at the thought. He needed to be really extra careful when he turns into Omni Gundam again as he didn't want to test out that idea.


	6. Junius Seven, Remnants of The Bloody Valentine.

# PLANT council meeting #

Rau and Athrun had arrived at their home, the PLANT colonies, home of Coordinators who wanted nothing to do with Earth. Both of them had to leave the pursuit mission of the legged ship as they needed to report their findings and also the destruction of Heliopolis at the council meeting in a moment.

Athrun was still wondering if his friend Kira will be alright and tried to figure out why would he, a fellow Coordinator, join up with the Earth Alliance, the ones responsible for the Junius Seven incident known as the Bloody Valentine. Those words reminded him of his deceased mother, who was one of the many victims of that abominable incident.

"We're here, Athrun." Athrun snapped out of his thoughts after hearing his commander, during their arrival, they had gone to a private room on board the shuttle headed for the PLANTS (specifically the council meeting). There, they met up with a middle-aged man with gray hair, and a stern look on his face. He was dressed in a long purple coat.

Giving the man salutes, Rau and Athrun stood straight. "We will be accompanying you. Your Excellency, National Defense Ministry Chairman Zala," Rau said. The man they were addressing was Patrick Zala, a Chairman, member of the Plants Council, and Athrun's father.

"No need for formalities," Patrick said, with a wave of his hand. "You never saw me on this shuttle. Got that, Athrun?" he said.

"I understand, Father. Long time no sees," Athrun said, his voice level as they took a seat.

"Needless to say, I agree with your opinion included in the report," Patrick said. "The problem is the fact that they've developed such advanced mobile suits," he continued before adding, "We'll ignore the part about the pilot." Much to Athrun's surprise. "I went ahead and deleted that section."

"Thank you very much. I was confident that you would make that decision," Rau smiled.

"Just think of the reaction if we told them a Coordinator was piloting that suit. It would only give the moderate faction something unnecessary to argue about," Patrick frowned. Something Athrun didn't seem happy about.

As if picking up on how Athrun felt, Rau added, "Also, wouldn't you find it difficult to have your friend referred to as someone who switched sides to the Earth Forces, due to the report?"

"Uh...no, but…" Athrun stuttered slightly.

"The Naturals created a mobile suit that can perform that well even when piloted by a Natural," Patrick said, giving Athrun a stern look. "That is what we're reporting. Got that, Athrun?"

"Yes…" Athrun said.

"Furthermore, the unknown suit you encountered," Patrick frowned.

"Yes, the suit we've codenamed 'Knight-1'," Rau nodded.

"From your reports, it seems to outclass even the prototypes you've retrieved. It could definitely be a threat to us," Patrick nodded.

"As it was seen aiding the Legged Ship, it is safe to assume it was another suit built by the Naturals in secret," Rau nodded.

"Damn them," Patrick snarled. Honestly, neither he nor Rau really believed that it was made by the Earth Alliance. From what little was seen, it seemed to be even more advanced than the GAT series which were already beyond the standard ZAFT Mobile Suit. Not that it mattered to them anyway. Whether it really was made by the Naturals, or if its pilot may or may not be a Coordinator too was irrelevant to their agenda.

# Archangel #

Asher frowned as he looked over the clipboard he had. Even after all that trouble, they went through in Artemis, they had gotten absolutely nothing out of it other than bad memories, and in Kira's case, a case of heartache. 'So glad I left that last surprise,' Asher thought with a devilish smirk.

Back in what was left of Artemis, everyone was quite literally tearing their hairs out. The reason?

"NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN!" For the last 5 day, that infernal song has been blaring full blast in every and all comm system in the base. Furthermore, for some reason, nobody could get it to stop, short of shooting any audio devices till they were swiss cheese.

It was probably a good thing they were in space, cause nobody could hear them scream as the song was doing its best to drive them mad.

"By now I bet those jerkasses are tearing their hairs out," Asher grinned evilly. That program he left would leave the song playing for a week straight. Maybe once it was over that commander will think twice before he starts pulling tricks on people next time.

The people around him were backing away from Asher after seeing his devilish grin and the dark aura that appeared around him as he cackles.

"Y-you okay there kid?" Murdoch asked...from behind a stack of crates.

"Oh, everything's fine, old man," Asher 'smiled'. It was probably a smile Murdoch would never forget for the rest of his life on account of seeing it in his nightmares. "I just left our 'friends' back in Artemis a little surprise."

Everyone wisely decided to not ask about it. They remembered the look Asher had gotten when he heard what happened to them in Artemis (while he was stuck in a cleaning closet). Suffice to say, they couldn't say they were against general the idea, though. Sometimes, they wondered if the culprit behind that bizarre song was Asher...before everyone quickly shook their heads at the silly idea. After all, this was Asher Valentine. The kid could barely use the door controls, let alone hack an entire fortress.

"But more importantly…" Asher frowned looking down at the list he had.

"Yeah...we didn't get any supplies," Murdoch agreed. As it was right now, they were getting dangerously close to running out. And that...would be very bad. But the worse is that….the most important things are going to run out soon, and that is water.

Asher chewed slowly on the meal. As it was, the food wasn't TOO bad of an issue...but they definitely didn't have enough for anything beyond 2-3 meals per day. Heck, each meal was accompanied by only 1 small glass of water. "This sucks…" he said, referring to the current situation.

"Yeah...I hear ya," Kuzey agreed, right as Tolle made a joke in bad taste, pretending to choke and need water.

"Not funny, man. Our water supplies are pretty much empty, and you're making a sore throat joke?" Asher deadpanned. He normally had more tolerance on jokes, but after a good week of seeing the dwindling supplies, especially water, he had no humor for that kind of joke.

Tolle looked at him sheepishly, remember just who they were talking to. "Sorry. Guess it must be tough having to help keep track of the supplies and stuff."

"Not really," Asher admitted. "It can't be any harder than what you guys have to do. At least supplies don't try to kill me," he joked slightly, earning a few small chuckles. That is, except for Kira who seemed to be more focused on his food. Though he wasn't eating.

Seeing that Asher sighed. Ever since Artemis, Kira had pretty much withdrawn into his 'shell'... Oh well, time to go break it. "Okay Kira, this has gone on long enough. Ever since Artemis you've been in your shell, and I'm pulling you out," Asher said. "So enough with the emo stuff and tell us what's bugging you already. I don't need to be a Coordinator to figure it out and neither do your friends. They're really worried about you, you know," Asher said...right before motioning to the other surprised teenagers to 'help me out here'.

Tolle was the first to get it. "Yeah, he's right. You haven't been talking to us much ever since Artemis. Come on, Kira. We wanna help you too."

Miriallia and Kuzzey both nodded in agreement at that.

Kira blinked in surprise at that. "Do you really want to know?" he sighed.

"As sure as I'm gonna use this sledgehammer if you don't stop being all emo on us," Asher grinned.

"Sledgehammer?" Tolle, Miriallia, and Kuzzey blinked...right before they realized that yes, Asher actually had a sledgehammer with him. "...where the heck did you get that?"

"The hangar obviously, why?" Asher said. If there was one thing he loved about near zero gravity, it made carrying stuff easier.

The three were about to argue more about why he brought a sledgehammer to the mess hall...but decided it wasn't worth questioning. It was times like this that made the crew wonder if Asher was slightly insane.

Kira just stared at the hammer, morbidly wondering if Asher was joking or if he was being serious. He wisely decided not to test it out. Besides, Asher had a point. He really wanted to get this off his chest. "Hey guys...do you think...I'm a traitor to the other Coordinators…?" he asked, his voice low.

"Huh?" the three of them blinked. Of all the questions they expected him to ask, this was not one of them.

"What makes you say that?" Asher also surprised as well, he thought the fighting was getting to him or trauma of being on a battlefield. He sure didn't expect the words of that jerkass baldy commanders to be getting to him.

"I was told at Artemis that I'm already a traitor the moment I helped the Earth Alliance….I've been thinking if it was true?" Kira said, his eyes on the table, and his voice heavy.

Asher frowned at that. "Kira, look at me," he said, to which Kira turned to him. "Kira...that guy was a douche," he said bluntly, earning a few snickers from Tolle before Miriallia lightly elbowed him. "What? You know I'm right. That guy had his men go and put everyone at gunpoint and tried to steal the ship and the Strike. I don't know about you guys, but that counts as a douche in my books."

"...he's not wrong," Kuzzey admitted.

"Thank you," Asher nodded at Kuzzey and back to Kira, "Let me tell you this Kira, be it Natural or Coordinators, the human race has a long history of betrayal. Heck, even that commander douchebag in Artemis is also a traitor towards his fellow Natural, cause he and his men stabbed us in the back for his own interest. So what he said is a load of bullshit if you ask me. Just because you help out in defending the Archangel by piloting the Strike against ZAFT doesn't make you a traitor by default! Heck, isn't the main reason you pilot the Strike is to protect your friends? Protect them, " Asher point towards Tolle, Miriallia & Kuzzey, "And those refugees from Orb! Hell, even myself!" he said...though inwardly he winced at the slight lie, seeing as nobody knew he was also helping with the protection of the ship...when it was needed.

"I'll say you're more of a hero than a traitor. Besides, he forgot one little thing when he called you a traitor," Asher said.

By now he had Kira's full attention, as well as that of his friends. Kira gave him a 'go on' gesture to finish his statement.

"You kinda need to have worked for the other team to turn traitor. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but you've never worked for ZAFT before, right?" Asher was grinning like a Cheshire cat by now as he folded his hands with his legs crossed.

"No," Kira said, shaking his head.

"And there it is. Do you see any traitors around here? Nope, not one," Asher said as he made the show of looking around as if searching for the so-called 'traitor'. With his point made, Asher got up, carrying the sledgehammer which caused everyone including Kira slightly backed away.

"No worries, I'm not gonna turn any of you into a split watermelon. Time for me to smash- I mean work, before the old man starts nagging. Later, guys!" Asher waved his hand and head towards to hangar.

There was an almost pregnant pause after he left. "Well...guy gives one heck of a pep-talk, huh?" was all Tolle could say.

"Yeah...he does, doesn't he?" Kira nodded, a small smile on his face. It was...weird to have that kind of talk, but it worked. He sure didn't feel as bummed out as he had been since Artemis. Now if only he could get the other thing off his mind… "Do you think 'he' got out safely?" he asked.

"Who?" Kuzzey blinked.

"The white mobile suit," Kira clarified.

"Well...dunno really," Tolle said, scratching the back of his head. "But...considering he made ZAFT run away all by himself, I think it's gonna take more than an exploding fortress to keep him down."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Kira nodded.

"Don't you think it's weird that it suddenly appeared and disappeared the first time?" Miriallia asked, it's been bothering her for a while that she didn't detect any readings, it's like it appeared out of nowhere.

"Now that you mention it, it's really weird." Kuzzey wondered as well.

"Well, it seems like that mobile suits only appears when Kira is in trouble no? Does that mean he's your knight in shining armor, while Kira is the princess?" Tolle playfully elbowed Kira's stomach, which also earned a couple of snickered from Miriallia and Kuzzey as well.

"W-What are you talking about? Stop joking around, Tolle!" Kira said actually blushing in indignation. While he saw what Tolle was getting at, it was still way too embarrassing. Sure he wasn't a soldier, but this was too much.

"And how do you know it's a he? It could be a she?" Miriallia asked.

"Hahaha, it has to be a he! I mean we heard his voice right?" Tolle said.

"Frankly, the voice sounded obviously fake, it must be using those voice changer," Miriallia said

"Nope, definitely a guy!" Both Tolle and Miriallia continue bickered about the gender of the white mobile suit's pilot for some reason. Kira couldn't help but laugh at the scene in front of him, Kuzzey joined with Kira as well.

Not far from the mess hall, Asher heard the laughter and smiled a little. "Mission accomplished," he said giving himself a proverbial pat on the back. Those guys looked much better when they were happy. But he didn't have long to pat himself on the back, seeing as Murdoch was calling for him again. With a shrug, he quickly made his way back to the hangar...now he just needed to figure out how best to return the sledgehammer without anyone knowing...

# Inside Archangel bridge #

"Wait, we have a way to resupply? Out here?" Asher asked in disbelief. Turns out the reason Murdoch was calling was that Mu had an idea of how to deal with their supply problem. In fact, that was why a good number of the crew was gathered in the bridge.

"Get supplies...or rather take supplies," Mu said, right as a map was put on screen.

"Take supplies? Are we finally going pirate and steal from other ships? Arrr!" Asher jokingly asked while trying to imitate pirate dialect.

"Not in the slightest," Natarle said abruptly, shooting the boy a glare.

Sighing, Murrue decided to step in. "Our current course will be taking us to the debris belt, where debris from years of space exploration has gathered."

"And among the debris are also the remains of ships that have sunk," Mu said.

"Wait, you're not saying we're gonna take supplies from those ships right?" Sai said in alarm. A sentiment shared by his friends.

"Actually this is a good idea," Asher said. "Cause it's sad to say...we really need those supplies or we're going to be joining that belt as a mummy," he said, handing them a clipboard showing them the situation concerning the supplies. Their water, even with the rationing was practically non-existent, and their food wasn't doing too well either.

"Asher's got it right," Mu nodded. "We need those supplies or we're not gonna last."

"Once we're there, we'd like you all to help gather supplies using pods," Murrue explained. "Asher, could you help oversee the supplies to make sure we get enough?"

"No problemo, just give me a space suit with full oxygen tanks and a clipboard, I'm good to go." Asher gives thumbs up to Murrue.

"None of us are thrilled about this idea, but we really don't have any other choice," Natarle added, seeing the looks of the doubt on the teenagers' faces.

"We're not looking for things others have lost, we merely want to take what we need in order to live," Murrue said, her voice sad as well.

In the end, the friends nodded their consent. No matter how they looked at it, it was either they do this or they all die. One dismissed, the volunteers and some of the Archangel crews getting ready themselves, trying to suppress the guilt from taking stuff from the deceased.

Once everyone had changed into their spacesuits, and prepare to take off. Asher went out first but he did something which was supposed to do in this situation. He claps his hands together and closed his eyes while bowing down a little. "What are you doing? Kira asked.

"Hm? Since we're about to disturb some resting place in space, best we pay respect for the dead. You don't want to get curses from the deceased, trust me." Asher said

Kira blinked his eyes, "Are you superstitious? No offense, but there's no evidence that ghosts or curses exist."

"You will never know, Kira. You will never know. Karma is a bitch, Kira. Remember that." With that, Ashe took off into the space head off first. What's waiting for him at the space later is something he would never be expected.

Meanwhile, at the PLANTS, the council had gathered together and were discussing the recent events, namely the destruction of Heliopolis.

Once the recordings were done, Rau began talking. "I believe you can understand from the course of events you just saw, that our actions were not intended as an attack on Heliopolis itself and that the biggest reason for the collapse lies with the Earth Forces. That concludes my report," he said, giving a salute and returning to his seat. Once he did, a small argument arose amongst the council members with regards to the information, particularly with regards to the supposed involvement of Orb with the Earth Forces. However, it was short-lived as Patrick stood up and spoke.

"However, Commander Le Creuset...are the mobile suits of the Earth Forces really valuable enough to account for the sacrifices made to get them?" he asked.

Rau stood up at that. "To explain their marvelous abilities to you, I have one of our pilots with me who has not only piloted one of these machines but has also battled against the machine we failed to take," he said. "I request to have Athrun Zala report on this."

The council looked at the current Chairman, Siegel Clyne, who seemed uncertain but ultimately conceded. "I will allow Athrun Zala to report," he said.

With that Athrun stood up and moved forward. Giving a quick salute, the feed began playing recordings concerning the stolen GAT series as he began explaining them one by one starting with his own machine. Eventually, he got to the end of explaining the ones stolen and even explained a little bit about the Strike. However, once he was done, his father spoke up.

"Also, in the reports, you said something about another mobile suit that you encountered," he said.

Athrun nodded as the feed changed to show the few recordings of they had. The council was filled with murmurs as each member looked at the image of the mysterious machine. Once the murmurs died down, Athrun began speaking again.

"This machine that we have codenamed 'Knight-1' appeared during an attempt to destroy the legged ship and if possible, capture the Strike," Athrun started, before the feed changed to show it with its sword revealed followed by images of its arm cannon revealed.

"In battle, its main armaments seem to be the sword and cannon that are mounted in its arms," he continued as the feed showed the Duel and Blitz losing limbs to the blade.

"The sword has proven capable of cutting through Phase Shift Armor with minimal difficulty, despite being a physical blade," he said, the murmurs getting higher in volume at that statement and with good reason.

"The shots fired from its cannon also seems surpassed even with Buster's combined long-range beam cannon, which is the Buster's most powerful weapon and also believed that the Knight-1 armaments are able to pierce even the hull of a ship."

By now the tension was very thick. "Overall, its specs seem to completely outclass the stolen mobile suits, which themselves surpass our current mobile suit technology," Athrun concluded.

Once he was done, the council was in the uproar.

"Damn those Naturals, to think they'd create something like this!"

"How long before they begin mass producing those units?!"

The arguments came. Unnoticed by the council, Rau gained a small smirk.

However, Siegel's voice cut through the chatter, having noticed something else. "Commander Le Creuset," he started. "According to the feed, that Knight-1 fought and easily defeated not just the stolen mobile suits but also several Ginn in a single strike. Yet if he was truly part of the Earth Forces, why did its pilot choose to spare your ship and the mobile suit pilots?" he pointed out. Of all the things he heard and saw, this was one detailed that continued to nag at him. Like a missing piece to a complex puzzle.

Rau for his part had to concede the man had a point. However, he had already thought of this and prepared a counter. "With all due respect, Chairman Clyne, I believe the reason for that is simple. The Naturals have always been jealous of us Coordinators. Knowing this, I believe this was merely a show of power. The pilot did not spare us, rather he let us go after defeating us as a statement. A statement that we cannot beat him or at the very least, his suit," Rau said smoothly. That statement had the intended effect, as the council was once more in an uproar, though this time with indignation as well.

Siegel frowned but seeing the situation chose not to say a word. Somehow he just knew something wasn't right here, that somehow it wasn't as Rau said. However, with no solid proof there was nothing he could say, and right now he found himself wishing he could know more. Maybe then, things wouldn't be going the way they were. As much as he thought of Patrick as a good friend...he knew how much his friend had changed in the last year, and frankly, he was afraid of what Patrick might do if he became Chairman.

Rau entered his private room, at long last, the meeting was over. However, just as he entered, his body registered an intense pain while feeling suffocated as well. Rau clutches his chest in pain, as he stumbled towards his work desk, trying to reach the drawer knobs to find his medicine.

After frantically searching in pain, he finally found his small case of capsules, quickly opening the lid and shaking the case, a few capsules came out. Once they were in his hand, he quickly put them inside his mouth and swallowed.

Rau gasped for air for a few moments, before the medicine took effect. His pain ceased, and Rau lets out a sigh of relief after the pain had subsided. He planned to take a few moments to rest after a shower, but something interrupted him.

"What a horrible condition you have. I couldn't imagine having to take such ghastly things just to live," came a voice seemingly from nowhere.

"Your concern is appreciated," Rau said sarcastically. "I assume you were watching the council meeting as well?"

"Of course. I must say, the Earth Forces truly must be desperate to create weapons they can't even use properly," the voice chuckled cruelly as he added, "Like watching a trapped animal fight to escape, even if it means gnawing its own limb off."

That earned a small chuckle from Rau. Allowing himself a moment of mirth, Rau quickly went down to business. "Your thoughts on them?"

"The toy called the Strike is no issue. If push comes to shove, eliminating it and its pilot shouldn't be too difficult," the voice said. "That white suit, however…"

Rau quirked an eyebrow under his mask when he heard the tone. This was the first time he'd heard his associate actually sound angry. Normally he was almost whimsical in his talking. "Oh? Do you believe that suit will be a threat to our plans?"

The voice paused for a moment. "No. A single mobile suit should not be a problem at all. Toys like those can be broken easily enough," he said. "However, I won't deny seeing it has me...apprehensive. I believe it would be in our best interest that it be destroyed as soon as possible."

"I see…" Rau mused. He didn't fully understand, but...in the end, he decided it did not matter. He was planning to shoot down that suit anyway, and his associated just gave him more reason to do so. "As for our puppets?"

"Already taken care of," the voice reassured.

Rau nodded, smirking slightly. Everything was going as planned so far. Picking up a glass and pouring himself some wine, he lifted it in a toast...facing a nearby screen. "To the end of humanity."

"And the end of the world," the voice laughed.

* * *

 

Asher just stared at what he was seeing. "Hey...am I the only one seeing this?!" he asked in bewilderment. "There's an entire continent floating in space!"

Kira, on the other hand, knew exactly where they were. Only one place could have this. "Junius Seven…" he gasped.

Asher for his part gulped a bit. It was one thing to say they were gonna 'raid' a few ships. It was another to know they found what was left of an entire colony. He'd read the data. 243,721 people died here, all because some morons thought it was a good idea to go fire a nuke. This entire mess of a war was started here all because of some stupid racist ideas.

At any rate, they began...exploring the place, and to say it was unnerving, was an understatement. They hadn't been in here for an hour, and already Asher was sure he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight after the last dozen or so doors they opened revealed one or more of the victims of the attack, their bodies floating in perfect condition, their expressions the very same ones they had when they died, some even hold their gun reverse signifying that they go suicides before running out of oxygen. Not even children and infants had been spared by this atrocity, and frankly, it made him sick to his stomach.

"I can't believe someone would do this," Asher whispered himself. He'd read the files. This place was just an agricultural and farming colony. It wasn't a threat to anyone, but to think someone actually fired a nuke at it...it really was a look into how horrible some humans could be. His thoughts were cut short when he received a message that everyone was to return to the ship. Probably so they could start gathering supplies….dang, that thought made him feel dirty knowing they were going to do it here.

"The water over there? Are you serious?!" Kira asked, almost sounding angry. Needless to say, he was against the idea of collecting supplies from this place. A ship was one thing. An entire colony was another.

"There's close to a hundred million tons of water frozen over on it," Natarle said, her tone flat. That caused Asher to inwardly sigh. Sure it was the logical thing to do, heck, the fact still remained if they didn't do it, they'd run out of supplies in a day at most. But he really wished she'd have said it less...coldly.

"But you saw it for yourself, didn't you, Ms. Natarle?!" Kira argued. "That PLANT is where hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives! And yet…"

At this point, Asher decided to speak up. "It's not like we're doing this for fun or because it was an easy pickup," he sighed. "Kira, I don't think I can stress enough how much we NEED those supplies, especially water. This is pretty much our last lifeline…"

Murrue nodded in agreement. "This is the only water we've been able to find…"

"No one is jumping for joy," Mu added. "Nobody is shouting 'Hooray! We found water!'"

Kira couldn't argue with that.

"Well...if we're gonna do this, I say the least we can do is pay our respects first," Asher added. "That won't be a problem, right?"

"Not at all," Murrue nodded in consent.

(insert: An Endless Tail, OST Digimon Frontier)

The next order was for the entire ship, and it was one order everyone was happy to follow. Everyone had gathered a large amount of paper and were now busy making origami flowers, as many as they could.

Asher smiled slightly as he watched everyone work, while he himself was working on a few of the flowers as well. It was an oddly heartwarming sight, seeing everyone helping to pay respects to the dead. However, looking at his flower, he thought about it and had another idea. Maybe the others wouldn't understand it, but he felt it was his own way of sending off the people who died and wishing them peace in the afterlife. It wasn't long before they had a large pile of flowers. Once he put the last of the flowers he made in the pile, Asher decided to start working on his own piece.

Going back to his room, Asher took a large piece of paper, and begin to draw something on it. Using a broken rod he picked up, he quickly fashioned the two into a makeshift flag of sorts and tied it up so that it would be easy to move around. Quickly putting on a space suit and fastening the makeshift flag on his back, he made his way out, just as Miriallia was about to spread the flowers. Stepping into position, he placed his right arm across his chest like everyone else and lowered his head in a sign of respect as Miriallia let the flowers fly. Eventually, the small memorial was over, and Asher decided now was a good time as any to place his addition. However, his actions didn't go completely unnoticed.

"Asher? Where is he going?" Kira blinked when he noticed Asher slink away. Seeing as everyone else was busy heading back to the Archangel he decided to follow after Asher. He went through a few corners before he found Asher standing on a small plot of land floating by itself, but with a view of space. He arrived just as Asher planted a rod wrapped in paper, and untied it, revealing the paper made to look like a flag of some kind, with 8 symbols he didn't recognize. He watched as Asher backed away, and bowed slightly, his arm across his chest, in a show of respect.

"Asher?" Kira asked as he got closer.

"Huh? Oh, Kira," Asher blinked, having not expected to have been followed. "I guess you saw that, huh?"

Kira nodded, before looking towards the 'flag' in a silent request for an explanation.

"Oh, those? Those came from a...story I was told when I was little. The story may have sounded like something out a fantasy story, but I always did like what those Crests represented," he said, inwardly wincing at his own words towards his favorite series. But it seemed Digimon didn't exist here (or if it did, it either wasn't popular or it was lost in the years), so with that in mind, he decided it was safer if he didn't tell Kira what it really was.

"Those Crests?" Kira blinked. They sure sounded important now. That and he had to admit, he was kinda curious.

"The story was pretty simple, a 'save the world' kind of story. But those Crests were supposed to be the symbols of 8 virtues that could bring peace to the world," Asher said, before pointing at the flag. "Courage," he pointed at the symbol that resembled of a sun. "Friendship," he pointed at the symbol that seemed like a circular blade. "Knowledge," he pointed at the two circles joined together. "Love," he pointed at the heart-shaped symbol. "Sincerity," he pointed at the symbol that looked like a droplet. "Reliability," he pointed at the symbol that looked like a cross. "Hope," He pointed at the symbol that had an angelic look to it. "And Light," he pointed to the crystal symbol. "When all 8 Crests shone together, a miracle would happen, the darkness would be swept away, and the world would be lead to peace," Asher said. "I guess you could say it was my way of wishing the souls of everyone who died here to have peace in the next life."

Kira nodded in understanding. It was a good gesture on Asher's part and had to admit, he liked the idea of the war ending because of virtues like that. "We'd better get back to the Archangel. We should start gathering the supplies soon," Kira said.

"Roger that, captain," Asher said with a mock salute, Kira cracking a small smile at the joke.

(theme end)

The supply gathering was going smoothly, as all over the remains of Junius Seven, teams were gathering supplies and harvesting ice to be used in their water supply. Asher himself had a small smile as he saw the chunks of ice come in. "With this, our water issues are over," he nodded. He still felt a bit dirty about doing this, but after a week of seeing how bad their water supplies were...this was very uplifting.

Meanwhile, out deeper in the colony, Kira was flying the Strike, scanning for any more points they could gather from. However, what he found was something different. "Huh?" he blinked as he zoomed in on something. "A civilian ship? It must've been sunk," he said as the ship was in ruins, and judging by the look of it, it was sunk pretty soon. He was about to take a closer look before a Ginn came up from behind the ship. Gasping, he quickly ducked the Strike behind some debris, out of sight of the Ginn.

The Ginn seemed to be searching for something judging by its movements. Understandable, as he recognized it as a reconnaissance type Ginn. "If it finds the Archangel and reports back, we're finished," Kira said as he initiated the targeting system, taking aim from behind the debris. "Go! Go away!" Kira muttered as his computer locked on to the Ginn. All it would take now is a press of the trigger, and he'd blow the Ginn to pieces. Something he really didn't want to do.

"If you don't want to kill, watch your aim, bud!" came a voice from his communicator.

Kira's eyes widened as he actually looked around, looking for the voice, his computers weren't picking up any transmissions, so where had that voice come from. However, before he could look further into it, the Ginn looked like it was about to move away. Unfortunately, before he could sigh in relief, it spotted one of the worker pods and started heading towards it, rifle aimed.

"Idiot! Why did you have to notice!" Kira shouted as he took aim again. But once again he hesitated.

"If you want to help them, you'd better pull the trigger soon!" the voice came back before it paused. "No wonder you're so afraid. This targeting system is clunky as heck!" it said, just as the Ginn started opening fire.

Kira gritted his teeth, the voice the last thing on his mind. It was now or never.

"Ah mou! Let me do the aiming!" the voice said, just as Kira was about to pull the trigger. Outside, the Strike's eyes flashed, before its rifle moved...a little to the left. The beam fired and destroyed the rifle and the arm holding it. The Ginn seemed to stagger, before turning its sights towards the Strike.

"One more time!" The voice said, just as Kira was about to pull the trigger again in the heat of the moment. Once again the Strike shifted, aiming a bit more upward than Kira initially had aimed.

"Fire in the hole!" the voice said...sounding a bit too excited. The Ginn's head was promptly blown off, destroying the main camera. With its weapon and main camera gone, as well as the force of the explosion, the Ginn floated near-helplessly, its propulsions systems sputtering as its systems malfunctioned. It wasn't long before it was out of sight.

Kira let out a sigh of relief at the sight. However, his thoughts quickly went back to the voice he heard. "What was that? That voice?"

"That would be me!" the voice came back again. "You're welcome by the way, bud."

"Eh?!" Kira gasped, not expecting an actual reaction. Honestly, he thought the stress was getting to him or something. "Wh-who are you?"

"I'd tell you, but this place isn't the best place for that. Sides, don't you have some friends you should be worrying about?" the voice said before the line went dead.

Kira was about to try to find out more...before he received a distress call. Searching for the source, he found what it was. "A lifepod?"

"Hey Kira, remember what I said?" Asher chuckled, nudging Kira a bit with his elbow. "Looks like you saved another one, hero," he said, referring to the lifepod now inside the hangar.

"You really enjoy bringing back things that others left behind," Natarle commented from the side.

"A real ray of sunshine, isn't she?" Asher whispered sarcastically, earning a few stifled giggles from the assembled teens. Even Kira cracked a small smile at that, though he tried hard to hide it. Fortunately, Natarle didn't seem to notice.

"I'm opening it," Murdoch said as he pressed a few keys on the device he had in hand, one that was connected to the pod by several cables. At his words, several soldiers had their weapons trained on the pod, just in case the person inside proved to be hostile.

The pod opened with a hiss, revealing only darkness. Then…

"Haro. Haro," came a voice as a small pink robot shaped like a ball came out, propelled by what appeared to be flapping 'wings' from its sides. "Haro. Lacus. Haro," it said as it continued to fly through their midst, before stopping as Asher caught it. "Haro."

"Okay...that was unexpected. Cute, but unexpected," Asher blinked.

"Thank you. I appreciate your assistance," came another voice, as from the pod a beautiful young woman with long pink hair dressed in an elegant dress floated out. How pretty was she? It was safe to say all single teenagers were quite unable to take their eyes off of her. Heck, if it weren't for the fact it was rude, he'd probably have wolf-whistled right about now.

To be continue...


	7. Surprises and Changes

"My name is Lacus Clyne," the girl, Lacus, said as she sat before Murrue, Mu, and Natarle. "This is my friend, Haro," she added, lifting up the small pink robot which was flapping its 'wings' in a rather cute way.

"Haro. Haro. You, too."

"Clyne, huh…...You wouldn't happen to be the daughter of the PLANT Supreme Chairman, Siegel Clyne aren't you?" Mu couldn't help but ask.

"That is correct. Siegel Clyne is my father," Lacus confirmed.

Outside, several of the crew members were trying to eavesdrop. "What are they saying?" Tolle asked.

"I can't hear, keep it down, Tolle," Kuzzey said, while Kira watched from a distance. They didn't get to listen for long, though as an annoyed voice called out to them.

"Hey! If you guys have time to be eavesdropping, get back to work! We still got ton's of supplies to pack!" Asher said in annoyance. He had quite enough of having to deal with his mother's messes back home. He'd rather not have to deal with something like it here too.

"Shh! Keep it down, just let the guys in those divisions handle it. It's their job anyway!" Tolle said until he noticed Asher's change of aura while a vein popped on his head. Sadly he had forgotten that Asher IS part of said divisions and handled organizing the supplies. Tolle gulped, paling considerably when a sledgehammer hit the wall, a few inches away from him.

"Oho?" Asher dared him to say something else, the aura he had was starting to make them wish they could be somewhere safer. Like in the middle of a mobile suit battle.

"Dude! Watch where you swing that thing! That's dangerous and where the heck did you get that sledgehammer, seriously?!" Tolle said as he backed away, his friend and Kira followed suit as they thought Asher had finally gone crazy.

"The same place I got it last time," Asher deadpanned. "Now get back to work! I want the supplies to be stacked like perfect Tetris blocks!" Asher said as he points back at the hangar bay.

"You...take cleaning and organizing seriously, don't you?" Kira couldn't help but ask towards the shorter boy with a sledgehammer.

"Yes, I do. Living with my parents and having to clean up my mom's office for her can do that to a person. A kid could drown in those piles of paper, especially when my parents' papers are piled up like towers just waiting to fall on an unsuspecting victim, " Asher said in a tone that made it clear he was dead serious. As he said that he couldn't help but remember his childhood with both his parents' paperwork piling up everywhere (mostly his mom's, since lucky his dad mostly stashed his paperwork at his office) until it almost occupied the house. Not to mention that he was almost buried alive by those cursed things when he accidentally bumped into a table full of towering papers. Luckily, his father made it back home and rescued him just in time. After that traumatic incident, he had started tidying up his parents' paperwork at home to avoid that incident again.

'What kind of lifestyle was this guy living all this time?!' was the shared thought of everyone present as they sweatdropped.

"So, are you guys going back to work, or do I have to call the Captain?" Asher threatened.

"We're going!" they all quickly said, before moving along.

Asher never felt satisfied after coming to this universe, as he was about to make his leave, the door suddenly opened and saw Mu bolting out from the room frantically looking at something until he saw Asher holding the sledgehammer and a bruised wall beside the door.

Before Mu was able to ask what was going on, Asher beat him by saying that he'll find someone to clean that wall later. Mu decided he didn't want to know what that was all about. Dealing with the fact they had the daughter of the current Chairman of the PLANTS on board was enough to deal with. He didn't need to deal with their helpful, but questionably sane, volunteer.

"And that's the last of them," Asher said as he put the last box in place, in an arrangement that would make most Tetris players proud. Shame the boxes didn't come in a variety of colors to make it really look like Tetris. Maybe he should paint them next time.

"Glad that's over. I thought he was gonna use that hammer again," Tolle sighed.

"I know what you mean," Kuzzey agreed with a slight shiver. Everyone agreed Asher was a...nice guy on the whole. But sometimes they worried about his mental health. It was a debate if he had gone crazy after Artemis, or if he was always crazy, to begin with.

Asher didn't hear them. Instead, he was drawn towards something else.

"Again? What is wrong with this thing today?" Murdoch grumbled as he was fiddling with a console.

"Something wrong, old man?" Asher asked.

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that?" Murdoch said in annoyance. "But anyway, some of the devices on board have been having this strange error. They malfunction for a bit, go back to normal, then malfunction again. Rinse and repeat," Murdoch scratched his head in annoyance. "I just don't get what's wrong with these things."

"Huh, that is strange," Asher nodded. As much as they liked to shoot jabs at each other, if there was one thing he knew, Murdoch was a damn good mechanic. Out of curiosity, he decided to take a look at the device Murdoch had been tinkering with. When he looked closely, the screen flashed, and he jumped back in surprise.

"Something wrong kid?" Murdoch asked.

"N-no, it's nothing. I guess I was surprised by the sudden static," Asher quickly said, earning a nod from Murdoch who went back to work...and groaned when he realized the device was back to normal by itself again. He was clearly expecting it to glitch itself again.

"That was…no it can't be...right?" Asher frowned. He'd take a look more directly later.

After Asher and Murdoch tried several methods to determine the glitches happened on several devices, finally the Chief Engineer decided that it might be something wrong with it and probably taken apart to further inspection when needed.

With everything important so far taken care of, Asher decided now was a good a time as ever to take a lunch break. Never know when you'd need to be on standby with this ship.

"Not the best I've had, but the food definitely tastes better with these fresh supplies," Asher mused, digging into what looked like mashed potatoes, having gone to the mess hall for some lunch. It seemed he was a bit late, seeing as the room was mostly empty save for a few people here and there. Finishing up his meal, he was about to go and put the tray in the trash when he heard some commotion.

"No way!" came a voice. Looking to the source, he saw the red-headed girl, Flay Allster in what seemed to be an argument with Miriallia.

'I wonder what's wrong with them this time,' Asher mentally sighed

"Flay!" Miriallia said.

"When I say no way, I mean no way!" Flay shouted.

"Why not?" Miriallia asked, sounding annoyed.

"What's wrong?" came Kira's voice as he walked in.

"It's about that girl's meal," Kuzzey said. Asher could easily tell by 'girl' he was referring to the girl they found in the lifepod, Lacus Clyne. "Milly asked Flay to take it to her, but Flay refused."

'Oh boy…' Asher mentally groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. He knew where this was going. In the short time, he'd been on the ship, he definitely found Flay Allster to be rather...unpleasant. Whether it was her spoiled princes's attitude, or her inability to shut her trap when the topic of Coordinators came up, it was safe to say she was the only one of Kira's friends he didn't think he'd be making friends with anytime soon.

Part of him wanted to just ignore this and probably enter the cyber world just to chill out, but another part of him wanted to end this farce as that girl's constant shouting would make his ears bleed soon. However, it seems the argument won't be settled anytime soon and might get worse in a minute.

Asher sighed and casually walked towards Miriallia who was holding the tray of food, without noticing Asher was near her. Once he was near he grabbed the tray and pulled it to himself, much to Miriallia's surprise. "No offense, but listening to this was getting annoying. I'll take it to our guest while you guys settle down. Unless of course, you want to get the captain's attention and have to explain yourselves. If so, be my guest."

With a huff, he walked out of the room with the tray in hand. The group of friends blinked, not sure what to say before Kira sighed and followed after. "I'd better go after him," he sighed. Better make sure he won't bring the sledgehammer at least.

As they walked, Asher couldn't help but ask. "What's her problem?" he grumbled.

"Huh?" Kira blinked.

"You know what I'm talking about. Every time, the topic has anything to do with Coordinators, she acts like they're lepers or something," Asher said. "It's honestly getting annoying to hear some days."

Kira blinked his eyes in surprise. "Just because I'm a Natural, doesn't mean I think it's okay for people to treat Coordinators badly. I mean, what the hell is the difference? Genetic manipulation? That's rich. Coordinator, Natural, we're all still humans. Who the hell cares about something tiny like that?!" was Asher's exasperated rant.

Kira was taken surprised, it's really not common for a Natural to defend Coordinators these days, even in Orb. He thought that only his friends accepted Coordinators, but it seemed he was wrong. With that in mind, he started to wonder if it would be wise for him to mention that one of the stolen G weapons was being piloted by his childhood friend. One of these days that is.

"We're here, Kira," Asher said, as true enough, they had arrived at the room. An empty room that is.

"...Kira...am I seeing this right?" Asher asked in bewilderment as he kept blinking his eyes for making sure he wasn't imagining things.

"Yes," Kira sighed. At that, Asher went in, put the food on the table, and went out.

"I'll call the Captain, you go look for her," Asher said, to which Kira nodded. However, before they could go anywhere…

"Haro. Haro."

"Gyah!" both boys jumped in surprise. Asher actually jumping into Kira's arms, both of them inadvertently mimicking a certain cartoon dog and hippy.

"Haro! You shouldn't scare people like that," Lacus said, scolding the robot slightly as she caught it.

"Sorry. Haro. Sorry."

"It's fine," Kira sighed, letting go of Asher, who quickly got to his feet. Both silently vowed to never speak of this ever again. Asher was even planning to delete any security camera footage that captured that embarrassing scene later.

"Erm, Ms. Clyne…" Asher started.

"Please, just call me Lacus," Lacus smiled.

"Right. Lacus. Why were you out of your room? While you're not a prisoner, I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to wander around," Asher sighed. He was also pretty sure the door was locked as well.

"Oh, Haro wanted to go for a walk, and I was also feeling rather hungry," Lacus explained.

'Note to self: Haro proof doors,' Asher mentally sighed. "Well, that's a coincidence, we were just bringing your lunch," Asher said as he gestured the tray of food on the table.

"Thank you. Thank you," Haro said jumping up and down.

"Must I stay here again?" Lacus asked, a little disappointed.

"Yes, you should," Kira nodded.

"That's no fun. I'm all alone here," Lacus frowned. "I'd prefer to enjoy my meal over where everyone else is," she said as she sat down

"We'd love for you to have fun, but unfortunately we can't. Blame it on this dumb war," Asher commented, though inwardly he added, 'Not to mention I doubt Allster would make that conversation very enjoyable…' he mentally groaned.

Kira sighed at that, even if he agreed with Asher's sentiment. "This ship belongs to the Earth Forces. So there are a lot of people who...not think highly of Coordinators."

"I'm not one of them in case you're wondering," Asher chimed in. He'd rather not get lumped in even once with that crowd.

"That's a shame…" Lacus sighed.

"It is," Asher agreed. "It's dumb to judge someone just because of what they are. Like this guy over here," he jokingly nudged Kira. "Sure he's also a Coordinator, but he's gotta be one of the nicest guys I've ever met."

"Asher…" Kira blinked, though he smiled a bit at his words.

Lacus smiled at the sight. "You're both very kind," she said. "Thank you."

"No problem," Asher smiled, while Kira had a small blush when she said that. With a quick nod, the two of them left the room and closed the door behind them.

After Asher had checked the door was locked, and they were a good distance away, he decided it was time for some good old fashion boy talk. "So Kira, what did you think of Lacus?" Asher asked Kira with a mischievous grin after he saw Kira's reaction.

"W-What? Er….she's kind of a nice person." Kira replied.

"Hm…." Asher continued to stare at Kira who's trying to hide his blush while looking away from the shorter boy, Asher's grin growing even wider like the Cheshire Cat of Alice in Wonderland. "Is that so? Hm, personally I think she's a better choice than Allster, plus she isn't engaged yet for now….sounds like the perfect chance to get to know her personally don't you think?"

"Eh? Erm..um, I wish you good luck?" Kira said, which earned him a painful headlock from Asher.

"The hell are you wishing me luck for?! I was talking about you, you blockhead! Don't tell me you don't have a single bit of interest in her with the way you keep blushing, huh?!" Asher said angrily at Kira's denseness, as he continued to tighten his headlock while Kira was frantically waving his hand in pain.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch! Asher that really hurts!" Kira said.

"Shut up, you blockhead! I'm gonna make you taste the old man's headlock on you for being an idiot!" with more angry veins popped on Asher's head, he continues to tighten the grip which earned another painful yelp as they walked away.

Meanwhile, inside Lacus room, she chuckled from what she was able to hear, "Those two are funny people, don't you think so, Haro?"

"Idiot, Idiot!" Haro said as it shifted sideways while flapping its wings.

Kira sighed as he entered his room. Talking with Lacus had been nice, but overall today had been a very draining day for him, including Asher's 30 minutes headlock. Kira sometimes questioned Asher's sanity, seeing as one moment he's a very nice person, but he can show a rather sadistic side at the drop of a hat too.

"I wonder what kind of lifestyle he's been living to have shaped his personality like that…..so tired."

With that in mind, he plopped down on his bed, hoping to get some rest before anything happened. Unfortunately, it seemed the world had other plans for him.

"Birdy," came the small voice as Birdy flew in, and landed in front of him. Kira smiled a little at the sight, but let out another sigh as he lay his head on the pillow.

"You seem down, did something happen?"

"Not really. I guess today has just been a really tiring day…." Kira said. He...really didn't notice who was talking due to how tired he was feeling.

"You mean aside from your poor aiming in that dark blue suit? Well, that aiming system is pretty bad in the first place."

At this point, Kira noticed that he'd been talking to someone...when he was the only one in the room. Snapping his eyes open, he looked to the source...and only saw Birdy. Rubbing his eyes, he groaned. "I must be more tired than I thought. Now I'm hearing things."

"No, you're not, I'm right here."

"Who said that?!" Kira said, his head darting all over the room.

"Down here."

Kira blinked, and slowly looked down...right at Birdy. He just stared at it for a moment before…

"Didn't anyone ever tell you it's rude to stare, bud?" Birdy spoke.

"Waaagh!" Kira backpedaled in alarm. That was impossible. Birdy didn't have the AI to be able to mimic human speech outside of its own name. "H-how?!" he gasped.

"Same way I was talking to you in that mobile suit," the voice said, as 'Birdy' hopped closer to him.

"You?! That was you?!" Kira gasped. "Who are you?"

"Heh, well get ready to have your socks knocked off," 'Birdy' smirked before its eyes flashed, and out came a beam of light as something began materializing in mid-air.

Kira watched the whole process wide-eyed, and when it was done, sitting in front of him was a small...quadrupedal dinosaur-like creature with a horn on its snout and white scales that looked almost like metal wearing a cloak/cape of some kind with what looked like goggles around the neck. "Hiya, the name's Huckmon. Nice to meet you!" the creature. Huckmon. Greeted cheerfully, while birdy landed on its head.

Kira idly wondered when did his life suddenly stop making any sense. That or if the stress had finally gotten to him. All in all his reaction...he flopped over on his bed. "This day has been way too long. I'm going to sleep," he mumbled.

"Hey! Don't you dare ignore the great Huckmon-sama, after I helped out with your mess!" Huckmon said. No response. "At least introduce yourself too!" Still no response. "...this sucks...oh well." Huckmon shrugged before making himself comfortable and sleeping under the nearby desk. The human had one thing right. It had been a tiring day.

"Dang, today was busier than I thought it would be," Asher sighed slightly. He was grateful that he didn't need to transform into Omni Gundam this time. Doing that transformation seemed to require a lot of energy, as he was usually pretty tired after he transforms back, though it did make sense, seeing as he transformed from a human to a freaking metallic titan. "Well, time to go check up on the system," he mumbled as he locked his room door, placed a hand on the nearby console, and promptly entered the cyber world. When he entered, there was something different. In the system was what looked like an aurora of all things. Blinking his eyes and rubbing them to see if his fatigue was starting to make him hallucinate things, he quickly realized this was no hallucination.

"Huh, never noticed that before. You'd think an aurora would be very noticeable," he mused. "How did it happen in the first place?" Asher said as he tried to get a closer look. As he approaches the Aurora, both of his gloves suddenly glowed and before he could figure out what was going on, he was engulfed by the aurora's bright light. Opening his eyes...he stopped short.

"Okay...all this definitely wasn't here last time," he said, referring to the fields, flowers, trees, and a whole bunch of other real-world stuff as well as clear blue skies that definitely wasn't in there last time.

"Is this real...unless…!" he gasped, before breaking into a run, clearing a small hill, he was met with a sight that made his inner fanboy want to scream in delight. There, scattered all over the cyberspace, was a myriad of creatures of various shapes and sizes.

"D-D-D…."

"IT'S A DIGIMON!" Asher ran towards the horde of baby Digimon who jumped in surprise at the scream and saw a figure that's coming towards them at great speed. Scared out of their wits, several of them got out of the way as the human came barreling through, right before he caught...something. Opening his eyes, he saw some sparks...right before he was electrocuted much like a certain trainer. Turns out he'd gotten his hands on the guardian of the Baby Digimon, Elecmon. Needless to say, he wasn't pleased with the sudden intruder.

"Wow, this isn't a dream!" Asher said after the shock session was done, he himself looking a bit crispy at the moment. "Best day ever!" he said as he fell over in a dead faint while the Digimon were starting to gather around him.


	8. Let's Fight Together!

# Inside Archangel, Kira's room #

Kira didn't know how long he'd been asleep. He was still kinda tired, so he figured he couldn't have been asleep for longer than a couple of hours. "What a weird dream…" he sighed, rubbing his eyes. The dream he had was so vivid, what with that white dinosaur coming out of Birdy.

"I had a great dream. I found a mountain of DigiNoir and I ate it all up," a voice said sleepily. Kira froze when he heard it. Slowly turning his head, he looked under the desk...and saw a familiar white dinosaur sitting there. Huckmon noticed him staring. "...what?"

# Inside Archangel's system, unknown location #

"Oh man, I had a great dream…" Asher mumbled. "Digimon in the computer…" he mumbled as he moved to rub his eyes. Except he couldn't. Blinking, he looked down and found out that he was tied up rather uncomfortably with a rope. Wondering how he had gotten himself tied up in the first place, Asher tried to move his body to release himself but stopped when he heard the sound of a foot tapping in front of him.

Asher looked towards the sound and saw a group of Baby Digimon, and more specifically, the Child Level Digimon, Elecmon moving towards him. "You there! What are you?!" the Elecmon asked with a male gangster-like voice...though the gangster part was notably forced.

However, before Elecmon could get the weird creature to talk, he had taken a step back from the creature after seeing a pair of sparkling eyes. "W-What's with that look? You wanna fight or something?!"

"Oh, my god! It's a real Digimon!" Asher exclaimed as he stood up...and actually ripped right out of the ropes binding him. Seeing that, the gathered Digimon ran away except for Elecmon who frantically looked around, trying to find a place to hide. He took too long and ended up in a near bone-crushing hug again as the strange creature was rubbing its face against his.

"Let me go! What the heck is wrong with you?!" Elecmon tried to get away as he squirmed, but his struggles were pretty much useless in the face of Asher's death grip.

"But to see a real LIVE Digimon, I can't help it! You're just too cute!" Asher continued to rub his face until Elecmon's patience ran out. Elecmon used his Sparkling Thunder in an attempt to get Asher to let go...or turn him into charcoal, whichever came first. This time, Asher still didn't loosen his grip even though he looked pretty frazzled from the attack, which caused Elecmon entered panic mode.

"Wow, you're really strong too!" Asher grinned.

"What the heck ARE you?!" Elecmon panicked. Normally when he used Sparkling Thunder, any Digimons will let go (except strong Adult and most Perfect Digimon). Asher would have replied if he didn't feel a nudge on his leg. Looking down he saw a few Baby Digimon.

"Please, let Elecmon go. Pretty please?" Asher soon found himself subjected to the dreaded puppy dog eyes, and coming from Baby Digimon...lesser people would have died from the cuteness-induced heart attack.

"Awww!" Asher cooed, letting go of Elecmon.

Meanwhile, someone else was having an encounter with Digimon. However, unlike Asher, he...wasn't really enjoying it.

"You're real?!" Kira would have jumped back if he weren't already against a wall.

"Why yes, so are you," Huckmon said, his voice amused.

"B-but…! How? I mean, last I checked dinosaurs are extinct! Not to mention they couldn't talk!" Kira all but panicked.

"Hey, I'm not a Dinosaur. I'm a Dragon," Huckmon huffed.

"That...doesn't make me feel any better…" Kira groaned...before finally starting to calm down. It seemed the shock had started to wear off by now.

"Hey, er...Huckmon?"

"That's my name. Never got yours, though." Huckmon said.

"Oh...right. Sorry," Kira scratched the back of his head. "I'm Kira. Kira Yamato," he introduced. "If you don't mind me asking...what are you?"

"You don't know? I'm a Digimon. Stands for Digital Monster," Huckmon said, in a pose that made him look a little proud...in an oddly cute way.

"I...see…?" Kira blinked. Right as he said that, he heard a knock on the door.

"Kid? You okay in there? I heard some shouting," Mu said from behind the door.

"Oh crap," Kira gasped, and before Huckmon could do anything, Kira had grabbed him, and stuffed him into a nearby cupboard, Huckmon not even getting the chance to ask who that was. "N-nothing, Lt. La Flaga! I'm okay," Kira said.

In response, Mu opened the door. When he came in, he saw Kira looking like he'd run a marathon. "...you sure? You don't look so great."

"It's fine! I just had the a...a bad dream," Kira assured...right as the cupboard opened and Huckmon fell out which made Kira pale considerably. "Huh? What's that you got there?" Mu blinked. Kira was sure acting strange today.

"Oh, this?" Kira was inwardly panicking now. How was he supposed to explain a mini-dragon in his room? Thinking fast, he grabbed Huckmon...in such a way he had his arm around his neck, and in such a way that Huckmon wouldn't be able to talk. "It's just a...stuffed animal! Yeah, I found it in Junius Seven. I couldn't believe how well preserved it was," he said. He also idly noticed the death glare Huckmon was giving him.

Mu was...nonplussed at the sight. "I see…" he said. "Well, I have to admit, I didn't take you for the stuffed animal type."

"Ah, I was thinking of giving it to one of the kids. Maybe if some of them were feeling down, I could help cheer them up," Kira quickly said. Huckmon had developed a good number of anger veins by now.

"Ho? Well, that's a nice thing to do," Mu nodded. "But take it easy kid, you look like you were nearly shot in the cockpit," he said as a light joke. "Well, later," he said before leaving.

Once he was gone, Kira let out a sigh of relief, his grip slacking, just enough for Huckmon to move his mouth, or in this case, to bite Kira's hand in annoyance. It wasn't too hard, not enough to break the skin...but it still hurt.

Kira bit back the urge to scream lest he called someone else to the room. Instead, he let go of Huckmon, who thankfully let go of his hand.

"Well, this is a fine way to say thank you," Huckmon said sarcastically, glaring at the teen who was nursing his hand. "Oh, if you really do give me to some kids, let's just say it'll be more than just a bite next time." Huckmon's angry aura suddenly reminded him of Asher and he wondered if this thing is related to him somehow...

"My bad, my bad. I was getting too excited when I saw a live Digimon, I didn't mean to scare any of you." Asher said as he sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

"How do you even know about us?" Elecmon asked

"Huh? Erm…..well I heard stories about Digimon before when I was a kid. Erm, that's about the same level as Baby Digimon let's say." Asher thought it would be a good idea to keep it a secret that it was actually a fictional cartoon series.

"Huh, never seen a Digimon like you before. What type are you?" Elecmon asked, curious about this….creature.

"Me? Well, I'm Asher. What you called a Human," he said.

"Hu...mon?" Elecmon questioned, causing Asher to sweatdrop.

"Not Humon. Human. Totally different species from you, Elecmon.

Elecmon didn't really understand but nodded all the same. "Well...alright. As long as you don't cause any harm to the little ones living here, I guess it's okay if you stick around. By the way, I'm Elecmon as you already called me, I'm looking after these little ones here."

"Speaking of which, how'd you all end up here? Last I checked this was inside the Archangel's system and there were no Digimon here," Asher asked, he sure remembered that he didn't see any Digimon around inside of the Archangel system until now.

"Arch...angel? Is that the name of this island?" Elecmon blinked.

"Err….I guess you can call it that, but I don't know how the heck there's an island here suddenly or did it have something to do with that strange aurora that suddenly appeared? It was just a vast empty cyberspace before," Asher replied.

"Hm, well we don't know what really happen. The little ones and I suddenly got sucked into a wormhole that appeared out of nowhere in Digital World, we tried to run away from it of course but before we knew it, we found ourselves in this place." Elecmon explained.

"I see, still how did you guys manage to build a small landmass?" Asher asked, cause last he was in here, it was just a metallic area not fit to really sustain any life.

"Oh, we got lucky. Aside from us, some of the land data, water data, material data, along with some of our food data, including some of the DigiNoir trees were sucked in here with us. So we tried our best to make it what it is now since we don't know when we can find a way back to our original home," Elecmon said

"You did all this by yourselves?"

"Nah, I had help from the other Child Digimon, as well as these little ones. Oh! And also a few Adult Digimon and some Perfects!" Elecmon said.

"Really?! Where are they?" Asher asked excitedly, he can't believe there's more Digimon inside of this system.

"They go on patrol to make sure there aren't any dangerous viruses roaming around and get a better look at this island too!" Elecmon said

"Really? Well, hopefully, they do a good job or things would get really bad…" Asher shivered. If the Archangel were to suffer some random malfunction when they were attacked, it won't be pretty. "Still, I wonder what kind of Digimon I'll meet with? Hopefully, they're nice."

"Crimson Flame!" Asher saw an incoming fireball from his right, he quickly backed away as the fireball hit the ground. Asher turned the source and saw a bipedal humanoid made of flames with its mouth sewed and cold blue eyes staring at him which gave him the chills.

"Stay away from Elecmon or I'll delete you with this flame of mine!"

"W-Wait, Meramon! This Humon is actually-" Elecmon moved towards Meramon begging to spare Asher as it wasn't a threat. "I'm not a Humon!"

Before Asher realized what was going on, he'd already ducked for cover. "And what he said! I'd never hurt anyone...unless they hurt me first, or someone close to me!" Asher called back.

Meramon frowned, before walking towards the human, and looked him in the eyes...and found no lies in them. "Alright, I'll believe you. Sorry for that, I thought you were some sort of virus trying to delete Elecmon."

"Eh, it's cool. You were only protecting your friends," Asher waved off.

"Needless to say, if you ever do…" Meramon was about to say.

"If I ever do hurt any of the Babies, I'll paint a bull's eye on my back and give you a free shot," Asher said without hesitation.

"A bull's eye?" Meramon blinked.

"Basically a sign that says 'hit me here' or something. One of the human terms." Asher shrugged. He would have said more but a sudden beeping came out of his pocket. Pulling out the device, he gasped.

"Ack! I've been in here too long!" Asher gasped.

"Is something wrong?" Meramon asked in surprised.

"Yeah, if I don't get back soon, the old man is gonna be really mad. You see, I got a job to take care of the supplies and help out in the hangar. So yeah, it was nice meeting you guys, I'll come back and tell you more about it later!" Asher said, and before they could say anything, he took off running, before a portal appeared and he jumped through.

"He-He disappeared?!" Meramon surprised that Asher suddenly vanished without a trace when a portal appeared out of nowhere. He needed to let the others know about this, sure that human didn't seem to have any evil intentions, but he would keep an eye on him just in case.

"Elecmon, when everyone arrives, I would like you to explain to us what happened before I arrived," Meramon said, Elecmon just nodded his head, and couldn't help but be thinking about Asher.

'He's so mysterious and weird….at least he was nice, though.' Elecmon thought.

Meanwhile, in Archangel's hangar, Kira was busy tuning the Strike. Normally it was a solitary affair as he worked silently in the cockpit. This time...not so much. "Man, what is it with you humans and overly complicated systems?" Huckmon said as he was currently inside of the Strike's computer. Kira still couldn't believe that the mini-dragon could enter the Strike's systems just like that.

"It can't be helped, this is a prototype mobile suit," Kira sighed.

"I was referring to how there is no way a 'Natural' could pilot this thing considering it was made on Earth," Huckmon said.

"How do you know about that?" Kira blinked.

"The Internet," Huckmon said as if it were the most obvious answer ever as he shrug. "It's all over it, you name it, news, blog, forums, gossip net, private chat room etc," he said. "Personally I don't get why you humans insist on labeling yourselves as if you were different races. I mean, this is almost as stupid as the Human/Beast Wars way back in the past," Huckmon idly said.

"Human/Beast Wars?" Kira blinked.

"Oh yeah, it was a war not that different than this Natural/Coordinator War you all got here. Only instead it was Human shaped Digimon vs Beast shaped Digimon like me," Huckmon said simply. "Nasty thing, bud. It nearly wiped out a majority of the population of that region. Good thing some of them wised up and managed to bring the war to an end before it went too far."

Kira gulped at that notion. The idea that their own war could go that far...it was not comforting at all. Hoping to steer the conversation to another path, Kira asked, "So...why are you here anyway? Why aren't you in this...Digital World?"

"Honestly, I was taking a nap in my favorite tree over in Server. Next thing I knew, I woke up in your cyberspace. As for how I ended up in the Strike and your bird...I was bored really," Huckmon shrugged.

"Bored?" Kira blinked.

"Of course, there was hardly anything to do other than browsing the net where I woke up. Exploring sounded way better than just sitting around doing nothing," Huckmon said.

Kira had to admit, that was as valid a reason as any. "So...what are you going to do now?"

"Dunno. I think I'll hang-out around you. You Coordinators sure seem interesting," Huckmon said.

"Huh? How did you…?"

"Know you're a Coordinator? Kira, I just said a Natural couldn't pilot this thing. You can pilot it. It's not that hard to figure out," Huckmon chuckled.

"True…" Kira chuckled sheepishly.

"So, while we're on the topic, I say we turn this half-baked prototype into a real monster," Huckmon half-joked.

"Excuse me?" Kira said in surprise.

"Well, this thing IS a prototype. Those usually come with bugs of some kind. I should know, old man Clockmon always was tinkering with machinery like this," Huckmon explained.

"That's...true," Kira admitted. Even with how he reprogrammed the OS, the Strike still had moments where its performance was less than ideal. Hence, why he had to near constantly tuning it.

"Well then, let's get to work. First things first, the targeting system. This clunky thing is just gonna get people killed," Huckmon said as he accessed the part of the OS dealing with that.

"H-hey! Careful with that!" Kira said in alarm as he started working on the console. He really would rather not let the Digimon work unsupervised. For the sake of his own nerves really.

Meanwhile, at the bridge, the crew was receiving a transmission.

"Are you sure?" Murrue asked to make sure.

"There's no mistaking it," one of the crewmen said. "This is a code pulse from the Earth Forces' 8th Fleet."

"Can you decode it?" Natarle asked, floating up from CIC. The crewman did so.

"This is...8th fleet advanced...Montgomery...Arch...angel, reply," the transmission said.

"It's a force under Admiral Halberton command!" Murrue said with a smile, as the entire crew also brightened at the news.

"Are they looking for us?"

"What's their position?"

"Is that Koopman's unit?"

"Wait a minute,"

"Great!"

The Bridge had descended into a small cacophony as the crew is very happy to hear the news.

"They still seem to be a significant distance away, but we should be able to meet up with them soon," the crewman reported.

"Finally, something we can be relieved about," Murrue nodded. Things were finally starting to look up.

The news spread quickly through the ship, as such the ship had become quite animated with everyone talking about the eventual meet up with the Earth Forces.

"Well, they sure seem happy," Huckmon observed. Currently, he was inside of Birdy again, and thus he kept the volume low so only Kira could hear him.

"It can't be helped. After everything that's happened, everyone is happy that this can finally end," Kira said.

"...are you going to walk away too?" Huckmon couldn't help but ask.

"Huh?" Kira blinked.

"Don't get me wrong, I understand. Heck, I'd be worried if you stayed on for the sake of fighting," Huckmon quickly said. "I guess it feels like such a shame if you were to just walk away from the Strike like that."

"You...really like Mobile Suits, don't you?" Kira couldn't help but chuckle. While he was tuning up the Strike, the conversation with the Digimon had helped him learn one thing about Huckmon. He was a real machine nut, with a big interest in Mobile Suits.

"Well...yeah. I mean, who wouldn't? They're really cool looking and all that," Huckmon said, though the tone of his voice became a little embarrassed.

Kira chuckled a bit at that. "Honestly...I think I would like that. Being able to go back to my normal life...well, as normal as they can be anyway…" he sweats dropped, eyeing Birdy.

"Normal is overrated," Huckmon smirked, and Kira was sure if he could right now, he'd have stuck his tongue out.

"Oh? So we're finally meeting up with a fleet?" Asher asked as he gave Murdoch the tools he asked for.

"Well, an advanced fleet, but part of the 8th fleet all the same," Murdoch nodded.

"That's good. It would be nice to not have to worry about being outnumbered again," Asher nodded.

"Yeah, that's for sure," Murdoch nodded. "So, what do you plan to do after this, kid?"

"What do you mean, old man?" Asher blinked.

"Well, you ARE just a volunteer. Technically we can't have you on much longer, so after we meet up with the 8th fleet, you and the other kids are pretty much free to walk away from all this," he explained.

Asher blinked in confusion for a while, and suddenly remembered that he is a volunteer after all as he clapped his hand together "Oh, that's right! I'd completely forgotten about that. Hahahha!" Asher said as he scratched the back of his head.

Murdoch sweatdropped, "Oi, how can you forget that you're a volunteer from the start? Well, I don't blame you since you're always tidying up our supplies and anything. Though, it's a pity that you're not staying here. Those guys are too lazy to clean up the mess by themselves. " Murdoch sighed as he murmured. However, that doesn't escape from the boy's ears.

"Oh? Did I heard a certain old man is going to miss his lovely volunteer?" Asher grin, while Murdoch flabbergasted knowing he had blurted out unintentionally.

"W-What are you talking?" Murdoch said as he looked away with a small blush on his face.

"Aw, old man. I didn't know you got a soft spot for me. Makes me feel special!" Asher laughed at the end, to which Murdoch wanted to facepalm for embarrassing himself, although he won't deny that things would probably feel real quiet without their volunteer around.

"Anyway, you're free for now since there's nothing for you to do anyway right now. Why don't you ask Kira to grab a bite or something? You two need to spend more time outside of the hangar." Murdoch said after he regained his composure as he patted Asher's shoulder while he walked away.

"Guess I'll drag Kira to the mess hall then before I dive into the Cyber World again to visit the Digimon in the system," Asher mused as he walked towards where the Strike was stored. He called out to Kira but he was greeted by silence from the open cockpit.

"Huh, guess he went out somewhere. Wonder where he went, though." Asher figured maybe Kira was already in the mess hall, so he went there alone. As he arrived, he saw the usual group except for Kira seem to be talking about stuff. Seeing as technically, he wasn't that close to them he decided it was best that he not disturb whatever they're doing until Tolle called out to him.

"Hey, Asher!" Tolle floated towards him while he's taking his own food.

"Sup, Tolle. I see Kira isn't with you guys. Though doesn't seem he'd be here." Asher shrugged as he placed his meal on the table and took a seat, while Tolle sat beside him.

"Oh, he just left after he took some food. Maybe he's eating inside his room, though I'm not sure why he'd do that, especially since I'm pretty sure I saw him taking double the amount of food he normally has," Tolle mused.

"Probably doing more work, or he was taking the food to our guest," Asher smirked slightly at the second idea. Maybe he should go back to cyberspace after this and capture the scene for blackmail….ahem memories.

As they spoke, Asher couldn't help but notice that Flay seemed much more cheerful than normal, as seen by the happy look she had after Sai told her something. "Hey, Tolle. Did something happen to her? She seems….unusually happy right now."

"Oh, well we received a transmission that the Earth Forces' 8th fleet had sent an advance force to meet up with us. Turns out her father is on that ship as well. He probably wanted to pick her up personally or something when he heard that she's on board this ship," Tolle answered.

'Her father? If I remember correctly her father's name is…Grem? Nah, Ginger? No that's weird. Erm...something like George of the jungle….oh wait, George Allster!' Asher mentally figured it out, as far as what he could gather it seems that her father had some connection with the EA. He didn't have time to do a background check on everyone, but he suspected that he had some connections with Blue Cosmos, although he didn't have enough evidence to prove his suspicion.

"Father huh…." Asher said as he put down his spoon, thinking back about of his normal life, his parents, and friends. He wondered how are they doing. Deep down he still hoped that this was all just a dream. Unfortunately, that was not the case. He still hadn't gotten the slightest clue as to how to return home. He even tried to fiddle with his G-Cyber Digivice as he called it, but it seems it doesn't do anything other than turning him into his gunpla.

'I have to find a way to get back home, I wonder if mom can keep her office clean while I'm gone. Dad must be worried sick about me now. But what if I'm stuck here forever? No, don't think of that right now, Asher! You can't lose hope yet!' he thought to himself.

"Hey, you okay? You've been spacing out." Tolle asked worriedly.

"Oh, nothing. Just….thinking about my parents that's all." Asher said

"I know that feeling, hey maybe after we meet up with the 8th fleet, you can ask them to send you back home!" Tolle said.

"Yeh, I guess." Asher looked away, 'If only they could understand what's really going with me.' Asher thought sadly.

Meanwhile, inside of Kira's room, he had managed to sneak in an extra portion of rations for Huckmon as the dragon Digimon had said that he was hungry. Although he wondered if Digimon were able to eat human food, he obliged anyway. Now he got his answer upon seeing Huckmon gobble the food up with gusto. Kira could only watch with a...deadpan expression when Huckmon swallowed a slice of bread in one bite.

"It's not bad, but...it tastes kinda bland. You humans eat this all the time?" Huckmon asked.

"Erm, not really. This is a warship, and we've only got limited supplies, so we use whatever we have on hand."

"That sucks," Huckmon commented. "Kinda wish there was a meat farm or some DigiNoir trees around here. Oh well, I think I can spice it up a little." Huckmon took another slice of bread, before breathing a bit of fire on it, lightly toasting it.

Kira blinked a little at the sight, though in retrospect, he probably shouldn't have been surprised. Huckmon did call himself a Dragon after all. "Meat farms?" he asked, noting the odd statement

"Yeah, you know, crops that grow meat. They're common in the Digital World. Maybe you should try it when you got the chance, hehe." Huckmon said.

"Uh...but meat doesn't grow from plants…" Kira pointed out.

"It does in the Digital World," Huckmon said simply. "Come to think of it, I just remembered I had this on me," he said, pulling out what looked like a hexagonal container of some kind that reminded Kira of a snack/biscuit pack.

"And that is…?" Kira blinked.

"DigiNoir. If there's one kind of food you should try, this is one of the best. I forgot that I was napping near one of the trees before I ended up here," Huckmon said. "Here, try some."

Kira didn't know what to say to that. If Huckmon was telling the truth, then whatever this DigiNoir was, it literally grew on trees. Deciding a quick try couldn't hurt, he accepted the item. "Uh...thanks," he said, before looking at it, noting its shape, he took a guess and pulled the top. True enough, it came open. Looking inside he saw it was filled with little rings that reminded him of snack food. Mentally shrugging, he took one and put it in his mouth. Munching a bit, his eyes widened before he started eating more. "It's good," Kira nodded.

"It is, isn't it?" Huckmon agreed. "Go ahead and have it. I'm sure I can find more another time."

At Archangel Bride, Archangel crew manages to get in contact with the advance 8th fleet Montgomery after several tries. The crew was glad their allies able to receive their signal, and now are awaiting status update on their rendezvous.

"Arrival time at the rendezvous point with our fleet will be as planned. Once you join us, the Archangel will come under the command of this ship and will proceed onto the main fleet together," the captain of the Montgomery said. "You're almost here, I pray for your safe arrival," he said through the transmission.

With his piece said, the middle-aged man next to him spoke up. "I'm Vice Minister George Allster of the Atlantic Federation. First, I'd like to thank you for your efforts in rescuing civilians. Oh, and one other thing!" he said. "I was surprised and happy to see the name of my daughter, Flay on the list of rescued civilians. I'd be more than grateful if I could get a glimpse of her."

"Vice Minister, sir, you'll see her as soon as they join up with us," the Captain said.

"That's Flay's father, alright," Sai commented with a small smile.

Meanwhile, Asher inside of the Archangel cyberspace had listened to the entire conversation, he had tried to dig up some info but unfortunately, he couldn't do that level of hacking without risking tripping off security, which would just cause an unwanted commotion at this point in time. Asher let out a sigh and he continued to fly towards a medium sized island. Now that he was this high up, he noticed that aside from the 'Primary Village' he was in before, there was also a small town, filled with Digimon not all that far away, though still far enough that someone on ground level wouldn't have noticed it.

He continued flew towards it until he saw Elecmon doing something, Asher tried to call out to him, Elecmon looked around before he looked up only found that Asher was flying with some sort of pixel aura on him.

"Hey, Humon!"

Asher slightly dropped his head after he heard that weird name, he needed to remind him again after this. Asher shifted his body and diving straight towards where Elecmon is, as he approaches, he descended slowly until he made a soft landing on the soil.

"Hey, Elecmon. First thing first, I'm not Humon. It's Asher," Asher said as he walked towards Elecmon.

"My bad, my bad. What's bring you here, by the way?" Elecmon asked

"Can't I visit a friend cause I want to?" Asher grinned.

"Well...that's true. Actually, I think you came at a good time," Elecmon admitted.

"Oh? And why is that?" Asher asked.

"Ho-ho-ho, so this is the Humon you said you encountered, Elecmon?" an elderly voice came from behind Asher as he turned around he yelped in surprised when he saw the source of it.

"Oh-ho-ho, isn't he a fine young boy, Jijimon?" an elderly woman asked.

"Ho-ho-ho, indeed he is. Let me introduce, I am Jijimon, and this is Babamon," the Digimon that looked like an old man introduced himself and the Digimon next to him. "We are the acting Mayors of this town for the time being."

"My name is Asher Valentine, and I'm not Humon, it's human. It's a species of what I am, actually." Asher said, hopefully, this time he won't be called that weird name later.

"Ho-ho-ho, forgive our rudeness, young Asher. I would like to introduce you to everyone but some of them were busy, come-come, young lad, lets us talk at my house." Jijimon said

"You can come as well Elecmon, I'll believe you've finished your tasks for now? The children will be happy if you come along." Babamon ask

"Sure, Babamon! Let's go Hu-I mean Asher." Elecmon said as Asher followed Jijimon and Babamon to his house, Asher was surprised that of the island scenery, such low manpower able to build lots of stuff.

"We're here!" Asher looked and saw a mushroom-shaped cottage, he wanted to comment but..he just felt so speechless for some unknown reason. Both the elderly Digimon as well as Elecmon entered the building, Asher following soon after. Inside of the house, he felt like he had stepped inside of a playhouse. Toys, children decorations as well as small playsets were inside the house. He even saw a number of Baby Digimon playing around the house, to which Asher had to use every ounce of willpower he had to not run in and hug the adorable little creatures.

"I'm home, ho-ho-ho!"

"Jijimon, Babamon! Welcome back!" The Baby Digimon were gathered in front of them but when they saw Asher they took a step back.

"No worries, he's a nice guy. Come on, say hello." Elecmon said

"Hello, mister!" all the Baby Digimon greeted him, Asher reply by waving his hand.

"Ho-ho-ho, come this way, young lad," Babamon said, beckoning Asher to come in.

"Thank you," Asher said with a small bow. He followed Jijimon, while Elecmon stayed down to look after the Baby Digimon and Babamon went into a kitchen of some sort. Jijimon later sat on a comfortable couch while Asher sits on the floor in a Seiza style, the Japanese formal way of sitting.

"Ho-ho-ho! Now then, make yourself comfortable. It surprised me when I heard from Elecmon and Meramon that there are other species in this strange world. It is so much like our own world, yet not at the same time. Is there anyone here aside from you, young Asher?"

"Well...that's...complicated," Asher sighed.

"Did it have to do with that portal you jumped into?" Elecmon asked.

"Yeah, something like that. The thing is...you guys aren't really on an island," Asher started. "I mean, this IS an island, just not an island …" he fumbled a bit, trying hard to find a way to explain.

"...I don't get it…" Elecmon deadpanned, making it clear he was doing a lousy job. Fortunately for Asher's dignity, right as he was about to try again, the ground started violently shaking.

"An earthquake?" Jijimon gasped in alarm.

"No way! There's no way an earthquake can happen inside the system...unless…" Asher's eyes widened when he realized what it might be, and quickly ran out of the building, the Digimon following him out of curious surprise. When they got out, they saw Asher putting his hand on the ground as the tremors continued. "Come on, come on! Connect already…" Asher said impatiently, as he tried to open up a system terminal.

"What are you…?" Elecmon started...then stopped when Asher opened up several holographic screens. Each screen depicting a black void with strange looking machines flying around.

"Oooh," the Baby Digimon gasped in wonder at the sight. That is until they saw some of the machines shoot one of the larger machines, causing another tremor to happen. They quickly ran back into the house.

"What's happening?" Babamon gasped as she hurriedly brings the Baby Digimon inside the house.

"We're under attack!" Asher said. "Okay, a quick explanation. See the white ship?" he said pointing at the image of the Archangel. "This entire island is inside of that thing. If it goes boom, so do we!"

Unsurprisingly, the Digimon took that about as well as you might expect.

"WHAT?!"

"We're gonna die!"

"Calm down everyone!" Jijimon said, his voice becoming firm as he slammed the bottom of his staff on the ground. "If this island is indeed inside that ship, then can't we defend it? I will mobilize the Adult Digimon guarding the island if needed."

Asher shook his head. "It's no use. Unless you all can get out and actually fight in space, which I might add, has no air to breath, those ZAFT Mobile Suits, the GINN will shoot everyone full of holes!" Asher said. "You all stay here. I'll handle this," Asher said, as he pulled out his G-Cyber Digivice.

"Is that…?!" Jijimon gasped, eyes widening as he recalled something.

Asher didn't hear him. Instead, he spun the ring, and pressed the button, triggering the Omega symbol to appear, before raising his Digivice up. "Let's go! Omni!" he called out as he was enveloped in light, before going straight up, right into a portal that appeared in the sky.

The Digimon were left speechless at the sight, Elecmon even poking himself to see if he was dreaming. He wasn't.

However, the battle wasn't quite as bad as it appeared. Unlike normally, the Archangel hadn't been attacked. Instead, they had received word that the Montgomery was under attack, and had chosen to help despite the Montgomery Captain's orders to withdraw.

"There's no guarantee we'd get away even if we turn around!" Murrue decided. "All hands, level one battle stations! I repeat. All hands, level one battle stations!"

With the order broadcasted through the ship, Kira ran out of his room, 'Birdy' following after him. Along the way a room door, he passed opened, revealing Lacus and her Haro.

'Didn't we lock that door?" Kira idly wondered when he saw that happen again.

"What is it? Things are suddenly lively around here," Lacus asked.

"We're at battle stations. Now get inside," Kira said, quickly pushing Lacus back in. He didn't mean to be rude, but right now as not the time for politeness. "What is with this room door?" he couldn't help but wonder as he started moving again.

"I think it's that pink ball she has," Huckmon commented, pointing at the Haro with Birdy's wing.

"I won't accept that! I won't accept that!" the Haro bounced as if confirming Huckmon's statement.

"Battle Stations? Are we entering a battle?" Lacus asked.

"Yes we are, or we're already in one," Kira urgently said.

"Oh? Will you be fighting too, Mr. Kira?" she asked.

Kira blinked at the question but didn't answer it. Instead, he said, "In any case, you are not to leave this room. Make sure of that this time," Kira said, before taking off in a run.

"That took longer than it probably should have," Huckmon commented. However, Kira didn't get far before Flay came walking towards him. 'Oh come on! What part of 'battle stations' does nobody seem to get?!' Huckmon mentally groaned from his position inside Birdy. Deciding he may as well help, he took off ahead of Kira headed for the Strike. The least he could do was help prep it. Flay paid no attention to the robotic bird flying past her. Instead, she focused on Kira. "What's this about going to battle stations? What about the advance force?" she asked.

"I have no idea, I don't know what's going on," Kira said, his eyes looking at the retreating form of Birdy, which was headed to the hangar before looking at Flay.

"It's going to be alright, right? My Papa's ship won't be destroyed, will it? Will it?" Flay asked worriedly, her hand stopping Kira from hurrying on.

"It'll be okay Flay. Since we're there too," Kira reassured before heading to the hangar.

By the time he'd gotten there, Mu had already launched with the Moebius Zero. "You're late, kid," Murdoch said as Kira, now in his flight suit, got in. "I'm sorry!" Kira said as he jumped into the Strike...and was surprised to see that the initial systems had been initialized.

"You can thank your bird for that. Never thought I'd see the day a bird would start up a Mobile Suit," Murdoch said, as Birdy flew out of the Strike, the hatch closing. He saw it and he still can't believe it.

"What was with the hold up anyway?" Huckmon asked once the cockpit was closed.

"Sorry. Thanks for setting things up for me, though." Kira said quickly before strapping in.

Miriallia contacted him from the computer and gave him a quick briefing. "The enemy consists of a Nazca-class, three Ginns, and the Aegis. Be careful," she said, to which he nodded slightly. As the Strike was loaded to the launch bay, he received another transmission, this time from Sai. "Kira! Flay's father is with the advance force. Please keep that in mind," he said.

"Sure thing," Kira said as he closed his helmet.

"Easier said than done, though," Huckmon said once Sai was done talking.

"But I still have to do what I can," Kira said, as the Strike was equipped with the Aile pack, and was ready to launch.

"...you're hesitating again," Huckmon said.

"What?" Kira blinked, right before images of his previous battles appeared.

"You're hesitating. I've gotten a taste of what you can do from being inside this suit, and I know you're holding back. Why?" Huckmon asked. By now the Strike had been launched out of the Archangel and was now flying to the battlefield, Huckmon having shut off the images so Kira could focus on flying...as much as he could thank to what the Digimon had said.

"I...I…" Kira wasn't sure what to say really especially at the Digimon's questioning eyes.

"You're afraid to kill aren't you?" Huckmon asked, hitting the nail on the head.

"Then what do you want me to do?!" Kira demanded, the pressure finally getting to him. He wanted to protect his friends, he wanted to save Flay's father and the people on board the Montgomery. But he didn't want to do it at the cost of the lives of Athrun and the soldiers of ZAFT. He was a college student, not a soldier for god's sake! "I'm not a soldier, but I have to pilot this thing so my friends can live. But does that mean I have to choose between them and my best friend? Does that mean I have to shoot Athrun and all his friends down just so the Archangel can survive?!"

"Then don't kill them," Huckmon said.

(Insert theme: Nibun no Ichi)

"What?" Kira blinked in surprise.

"So you don't want to kill anyone? That's fine. That's good even because the Kira I know isn't a cold-blooded killer," Huckmon smiled. "Right now you're thinking it's either an A or B. Protect your friends but kill the enemy, or let the enemy live and let them kill you and your friends."

"No..that's not…"

"Of course it's not the only option. If option A and B suck, then make option C. Beat all the enemies, save the ship, but don't kill anyone," Huckmon said.

"Is that...is that even…?" Kira started, but Huckmon cut him off again.

"Of course it is. You've already done it once!" Huckmon said, bringing up the image of Kira defeating the Ginn in Junius Seven without destroying it. "One more thing. You said you had to do what you can. That's wrong," Huckmon smirked.

Kira was about to ask what he meant, but Huckmon beat him to it, as the system in the Strike reported a sudden change. "WE have to do what we can," Huckmon said.

"Huckmon...you…!" Kira almost couldn't believe what he was hearing now.

"I don't let my friends fight alone if I can help it. That's just the kind of mon I am," Huckmon said, with a proud smirk.

"Heh, now you're just trying to act cool," Kira jabbed lightly, much to the Digimon's annoyance.

"But...thanks."

Huckmon chuckled at that. "Hey, what are friends for? Now then, let's go kick some ZAFT butt!"

"Right!" Kira nodded as he pushed the controls forward, the Strike jetting towards the battle. Their approach did not go unnoticed, as one of the GINN came to confront them. Upon seeing it, Huckmon immediately went to work as on the screen, several targets appeared on the GINN's arms, head, and on its thrusters.

"Take out these parts, and there's no way it'll be able to fight," Huckmon said. "I'll handle aiming and targeting. You take care of the piloting."

"Got it," Kira nodded, taking aim with the rifle. Huckmon quickly focused the targeting, and once it was locked, Kira pulled the trigger, destroying the GINN's rifle and its right arm. Undeterred, the GINN tried to retaliate with its sword, but Kira dodged the attack, before drawing his beam saber, cutting off the remaining arm, and wit a spin, cut off the head and delivering a quick kick to the GINN, quite literally removing it from the battlefield.

With no delay, Kira continued into the battlefield towards the Montgomery, while at the same time he noticed Mu's Moebius Zero retreating, having managed to damage one of the GINN, but in return taking a rifle shot to the side.

"Looks like it's just us now," Huckmon grimaced.

"Yeah," Kira nodded, but his features remained determined. "Let's go, Huckmon!"

"You got it!" Huckmon grinned as he continued to work through the data, minimizing the bugs and errors that might occur, and pushing the Strike's specs to a higher level, one that just might make up for their disadvantage.

(theme end)

Athrun fired his Scylla energy cannon, sinking another ship. As he flew by, a warning on his console brought something else to his attention. Approaching quickly was the Strike. Not wasting any time, Athrun shifted the Aegis into its Mobile Suit mode, the two GAT-series immediately engaging in a mid-air dogfight, shooting lasers at each other.

"Man, this guy is good," Huckmon couldn't help but comment as even with his support, Athrun seemed to be evading all their shots...though their shots were much closer to hitting the target than their opponent was. Kira didn't answer, focusing more on the fight. The fact that Huckmon was helping with the targeting system made it a bit easier to pull the trigger, but it was still Athrun he was up against, so unlike with the GINN, he still felt some hesitation. The fact the ship called the Law had just been sunk wasn't doing much to help the situation.

Athrun was in a similar position. Like with Kira, he too felt hesitation at fighting his best friend, but even in the midst of battle, he noticed the subtle differences. The Strike was moving more smoothly than before, and each of its shots had come VERY close to grazing his machine. Gritting his teeth, he fired his beam rifle again as he flew closer, and just as they were about to pass, he activated one of his legs mounted beam sabers. However, instead of cutting through the Strike's arm as he had planned, the Strike actually managed to twist out of the way, while simultaneously drawing its own beam saber and cut off the Aegis' right leg. "What?!" he gasped, as he fought to stabilize his machine.

"That...was too close…" Huckmon breathed a sigh.

"Yeah, it was. Thanks, Huckmon," Kira agreed. If it weren't for both of them sharing controls there was no way they'd have been able to avoid that strike. However, it seemed Athrun wasn't unnerved by the loss of a limb and charged forward, now with both arm sabers ignited, forcing Kira to block with his shield and saber, the weapons clashing in a shower of sparks, and as if to further emphasize the intensity of the clash, another ship exploded not far from them, making their already intense clash look nothing short of epic. Eventually, the two broke the lock, gaining some distance.

"Kira, this guy's way too tough! If we want to win this, we can't keep holding back like this!" Huckmon said.

"But…!" Kira wanted to argue.

"If we don't hurry, they'll destroy the last ship!" Huckmon argued.

Kira seemed conflicted. Ginns was one thing, but could he really stop holding back against Athrun?

"Kira!" Huckmon urged as the assault continued.

"U...I understand…" Kira gritted his teeth. "Huckmon, I'm trusting you on this one. Our opponent is Athrun. My friend."

Huckmon's eyes widened at that but changed to a determined look. "Got it. Leave it to me," he said. The Strike flew at full speed towards the Aegis and began firing its rifle again.

Athrun gritted his teeth as he tried to maintain distance and counter-attack with his own rifle. However, that plan was shot, literally, when one of the Strike's shots penetrated and destroyed his rifle.

"Dammit!" he growled, as he ignited his shifted to Mobile Armor mode and fired the Scylla. However, the Strike nimbly dodged again and using the opening it made, cut off the claw part of the Mobile Armor that made the Aegis' left arm. "I won't lose! Kira!" Athrun growled as he shifted back to mobile suit mode, and charged forward, his remaining beam sabers ignited. So focused he was in the fight, he never noticed one of his consoles glitches.

The Strike moved forward, ready to counter him. Acting quickly, he tried to shift the Aegis to avoid the counter. However, what he didn't expect was the Aegis' movements to suddenly become more...fluid for lack of better words. Regaining his wits, he managed to position the twist in such a way that he caught the Strike's left hand with his saber, causing the Strike to lose its shield. The Strike tried to counter with its rifle, but in a fluid spin, the Aegis cut the rifle in half, forcing the Strike to abandon it as it exploded.

"What's going on?!" Kira gasped in surprise. He knew Athrun was good, but not THAT good.

"I don't understand!" Huckmon frantically said. "His machine's performance suddenly shot up. It's like...like…" Huckmon's eyes widened in understanding. "Kira, we should withdraw. Take out the last GINN before…" Huckmon didn't get to finish, as out of the corner of their eyes, they saw the Nazca-class ship, Vesalius, attack the now heavily damaged Montgomery.

Time seemed to stop for everyone watching as the Vesalius' forward cannons fired, the twin beams of energy aiming to blow the Montgomery out of space.

"Oh no!" Kira gasped.

"Crap!" Huckmon growled. There was nothing they could do at this point. But Kira accelerated the Strike to the max towards the Montgomery even though he can't make it on time.

In the Archangel, everyone watched in horror, most of all Flay who thought she was about to see her father die right in front of her, a feeling that only intensified when the beams were about to hit. However, at that moment, a voice cut through the comms.

"Brave Shield!"

(insert: Brave Heart)

The beams hit...but splashed away harmlessly as they were met with what appeared to be a translucent shield of energy, and behind that shield with the sun symbol on it, protecting the Montgomery was the mysterious mobile suit.

"What?!" Athrun gasped in shock.

"Impossible!" Rau gasped, his composure slipping for a moment when he saw what was happening. He knew the suit was powerful...but this was pushing it.

Meanwhile, Kira and Huckmon as well as the Archangel crew were completely surprised and can't bring out words of what they have witnessed as the mysterious mobile suit continue to block the beam cannon.

'Shit! I hope this prototype special function can hold! I've never had a chance to test the weapons out before except the Garuru Cannon and Grey Sword! If the beam still holds, I'm toast!' Asher had heard the entire conversation when he was on the way to the exit, as it took some time from the Digimon's island. Asher grunted as he continued to block the ray of death in front of him. From the outside, his Gundam's arm was jerking uncontrollably due to the pressure from the energy blast.

After what seemed like a long time, an explosion occurred. Everyone was wondering if the mysterious mobile suit and the Montgomery were still in one piece or were they destroyed until the smoke cleared away revealing the slightly damages shield of the Omni Gundam due to the powerful beam cannon. It seemed the gods had answered his prayer and thus he had been able to hold off that attack.

Asher took a few deep breathes as he lowered his shield, he noticed the GN coating on the shield were wearing off since the glow from the shield's visor had died out. 'Looks like my GN coating on my Gundam's worn off. The armor's taken a real hit and the shield's slightly damaged. Guess the strain is too much to handle. Gonna have to watch out for any shots while it's recharging or I'll be getting more than just a light bruise!'

'First things first, gonna take out those cannons!' Asher immediately flew to the Vesalius direction, he noticed that the speed are slightly slower than usual, and he figured out the reason. 'Damn! That Brave Shield used up more GN particles than I thought it would. I better be careful!' he thought as he dashed forward. Fortunately for him, despite the slight drop in performance, the fact remains the distance wasn't that far...and that his target was too big to miss.

"Grey Sword!" he called out as his sword flashed although the glows on the runes were not as bright as normally it will be, and the lower half of the Vesalius was cut off.

The entire ship shook as the lower half fell off and exploded, the crew scrambling to stabilize the ship. Asher quickly withdrew from the Vesalius after that as he needed to make sure the Archangel was safe as he was worried about the refugees and the Digimon inside of the deepest part of the system.

"You bastard!" Asher stopped only to find out that the Aegis was charging right into him as it transformed into Mobile Armor mode and fired its Scylla energy cannon.

Asher gritted his teeth in frustration as he quickly dodged it, but due to the Brave Shield draining a large portion of his particle supply, his suit's movements were slower than normal and less efficient, enough so that the energy blast almost hit him.

"Looks like I attracted some unwanted attention this time," Asher muttered as he drew the Grey Sword upon seeing the Aegis revert back to its mobile suit form, its remaining beam sabers ignited. As their blades clashed several times and finally locked against each other, Asher noticed that the strength of his Grey Sword depleted was weaker than normal, causing him to slowly get pushed back.

All the eyewitnesses were both surprised and shocked, as they notice the mysterious mobile suit being pushed back by Athrun. Kira wanted to help but several GINN reinforcements were on their way to attack the Archangel as well.

"Answer me! Who are you? Why are you protecting the Earth Forces?!" Athrun demanded through his open channel, hoping to get a response even if it wasn't much. Knight-1 may seem like a Mobile Suit created in secret but he felt there was more to it than just that.

Asher didn't bother answering as he had enough things to worry about, namely keeping himself in one piece. He quickly withdrew from their blade lock and gained some distance.

'This doesn't look good, at this rate, I'll be in deep trouble. I can't use any of the special attacks in this condition, what should I do?' Asher thought as he wondered if he can get out of this mess in one piece easily while readying himself for another charge from the Aegis.

Sparks flew as the two mobile suits continued to clash, and in a surprising turn of events, the Aegis was pushing back the mysterious mobile suit. "Since when did this guy get so strong?!" Asher couldn't help but gasp.

Even with his lowered performance thanks to using up a chunk of his particles to defend the Montgomery from the Vesalius' attack, he shouldn't still be winning a fight against the Aegis. Itsuki had been sure to drill it into him that one time just why it was an advantage to using a custom Gunpla rather than one assembled from the box. By that logic, the Aegis shouldn't have been all that stronger than a 'straight assembly', and with the controls of the average mobile suit being much more clunky than his 'controls', he really shouldn't have been pushed back like this.

However, before the battle would rage on any further, all comms were hailed by the Archangel.

"Attention, ZAFT Forces!" Natarle said through the transmission. "This is the Archangel of the Earth Alliance Forces!"

"What's going on?" Huckmon couldn't help but ask as Kira disabled another Ginn.

"I don't know," Kira said.

"Currently in the care of this ship, is PLANT Supreme Council Chairman Siegel Clyne's daughter, Lacus Clyne!"

"What?" Athrun gasped, right as he blocked a counter attack from the mysterious mobile suit.

"We came across a lifepod with her inside, and took her in, for humanitarian reasons. However, should you decide to attack this ship we shall consider that as an abandonment of your responsibilities to protect Miss Clyne. We will then take care of this situation as we see fit!"

"What?!" Asher gasped, and in that moment of shock, he let his guard down...just as Athrun finished processing what he heard.

"You bastards!" he roared.

"An opening!" a voice called from his console, though he didn't hear it, as he was too focused on the battle, and in an instant, the Aegis had surged forward….and cut the mysterious mobile suit's left forearm off together with the shield.

"Gyaaargh!" Asher shouted in pain as his matrix chamber was covered in sparks from the damage. Looking at the missing limb, his eyesight dancing as he continued to shift between views of his suit and of his real body, his mind struggling to register what had just happened. With the complete loss of focus, out in the battle, the mysterious mobile suit was literally clutching at the stump of its arm, a move that resembled a real person a little too closely for anyone watching as it started breaking apart into particles before finally vanishing.


	9. The unsavory victory

The mood was somber as Kira returned to the Archangel. Sure they had 'won' the battle, but he sure as heck didn't feel like a winner right now. The Montgomery was safe, but they had to resort to basically threatening to kill Lacus to get ZAFT to back off. Athrun was understandably mad at that, something he made very clear before he withdrew, and the sad part was Kira couldn't fault him for it. He didn't like what the crew had done. Heck, Huckmon didn't like it too.

And as if to add salt to the wound, seeing the mysterious mobile suit take damage like that was just a slap in the face.

Up till now, it had seemed that the suit was pretty much invincible. Having the reality that as strong as it was, it was still a mobile suit, a machine like any other was pretty sobering...even if he was pretty sure taking an attack from a destroyer class canon played a big part in its weaker performance when Athrun fought it. Speaking of which… "Hey...Huckmon…" Kira started as he was going through the hall alone.

"Hm?" Huckmon asked, once again inside of Birdy.

"When we were fighting earlier. The Aegis…"

"Yeah. I think...I think it may have been another Digimon," Huckmon said.

"Athrun has a Digimon helping him too?" Kira asked in surprise.

"Hm...I don't think that's really the case," Huckmon mused. "He only started in the middle of the fight. I think that Digimon lent him a hand on a whim rather than helping him from the start like I did."

"So will we have to fight him like that again next time?" Kira asked. He didn't like fighting Athrun to begin with, but at least with Huckmon's help, the odds of him disarming the Aegis were more likely. But if Athrun had a Digimon helping him too…

"I can't say for sure," Huckmon sighed. "Digimon are a lot like you humans. We all have our own reasons for helping. If we're lucky, that Digimon only helped him on a whim, so it'll probably be gone next time we fight him. If not...I think we'll both be in trouble," Huckmon admitted.

"I see…" Kira sighed, having made it to his room, Huckmon materializing on his bed.

"Hey, cheer up," Huckmon said. "We'll make it through."

"Yeah…" Kira nodded, a small smile on his face. Knowing that he wasn't alone anymore when he fought...it was nice. "Thanks, Huckmon."

"Anytime, partner," Huckmon grinned, as he placed a paw on Kira's hand. The moment he did, a light glowed in Kira's hand.

Recoiling in surprise, Kira looked at his hand, and right before his eyes, a device materialized in his palm. It was shaped in a way that reminded him of a cellphone with a blocky shape. It had screen in the upper middle, with what seemed like a ring around said screen with strange code engraved into the ring. On the back of the device was what looked like a cell phone camera, while on the upper right side of the device was something that looked like a scanner or an antenna port of some kind. It was colored predominantly white, with the ring being blue in color, the same shade of blue as the Strike, he idly noticed. "This is…?" Kira blinked.

"Well isn't that something…" Huckmon looked at the device in wonder.

"What is it, Huckmon?" Kira asked.

"I thought it was only a legend, but that's a Digivice," Huckmon said. "It was said that in times of great need, the holy devices would appear to those who would fight the coming calamity," Huckmon explained. "The legend got fuzzy at that point, but it was said the chosen warriors who wielded the Digivice would always have a Digimon by their side. Some kind of bond or partnership that would form between them."

Kira blinked at hearing that. He wasn't sure how much he believed the so-called legend, but it did make some sense at the end. "So I guess this is just proof that we're partners, huh?" he smiled slightly.

"You got it," Huckmon nodded.

The moment was ruined when a knock was heard from the room door.

"Hey, kid, you in there?" Murdoch asked.

"Eh?!" Kira gasped in surprise, actually dropping the Digivice, which landed on the bed, the camera on the back facing Huckmon. To both their surprise, a burst of data came, and Huckmon was promptly sucked into the Digivice. "What?" Kira gasped...just as Murdoch opened the door.

"Oh, there you are," Murdoch nodded. "You okay kid? I know the fight was intense, but you look like you've seen a ghost," he said, noticing how...pale Kira looked.

"I-It's fine, Murdoch-san," Kira nodded. "Just...tired I guess. Was there something you needed?"

"Yeah, have you seen Asher? I swear the kid keeps vanishing all the time," Murdoch said.

"Asher? No...I don't think so…" Kira shook his head.

"That so? Alright, if you see him, tell him we need to start working on maintenance again. The Moebius Zero took a bad hit, and your Strike could use some repairs too," Murdoch said.

"Alright, I'll do that," Kira nodded, to which he left. Breathing a sigh, Kira picked up his Digivice again, and out came Huckmon.

"...that was weird," was all Huckmon could say, shaking his head to get the sensation out.

The Montgomery had managed to finally link up with the Archangel, and while the crew were doing repairs as the best they could, the captain had come on board the Archangel along with George Allster.

"Despite your actions going against orders, on behalf of my crew, I would like to thank you all for your assistance," the captain said with a salute.

"It was nothing, sir. Just doing our best to help," Murrue smiled, returning the salute.

"Yes, I'd also like to extend my gratitude for your actions today," George nodded. "If it weren't for you, ZAFT would have destroyed us," he said. "Speaking of which, where is my daughter? I'd like to see her."

At that, Murrue frowned. "Miss Allster is currently in the infirmary," Murrue reported.

"What?!" George gasped in alarm. "What happened? Is she sick?!" he all but demanded.

"No. You see, during the battle she had stormed into the bridge. Unfortunately, she was present to see the Vesalius fire upon the Montgomery, and seemingly destroy it. She passed out after that," Murrue explained.

"I see…" George nodded. That made sense, but he was still worried. He'd be sure to go see her as soon as he could. "Speaking of that, I would like to thank the pilot of the white mobile suit. If it weren't for him, we surely would have been destroyed. Is he around?"

At that, the crew of the Archangel gained...awkward looks. "That...might be a problem…" Mu commented.

"Why is that? Isn't he one of yours?" George asked in confusion.

"The white mobile suit is...an unknown," Natarle explained. Both George and Captain of Montgomery were surprised hearing that.

"An unknown?" The Montgomery Captain asked in disbelief.

"Yes, the white mobile suit has appeared multiple times to aid us, but which faction it belongs to as well as its pilot are unknown to us, we tried several attempts to communicate but we hadn't got a chance," Murrue said.

"We're pretty sure he's friendly, but yeah…" Mu summed it up, scratching the back of his head. "But his suit really is something else, how it keeps appearing and vanishing like that, it's different from Blitz's Mirage Colloid. Considering he survived Artemis' destruction, I'd say he's probably fine even with that missing arm."

"Are you sure? He seemed to have quite a hard time against the Aegis even with how much damage it had already taken," the captain of the Montgomery said.

"Yeah well, I doubt any suit could tank a blow from the Vesalius' cannons and still be in good shape after that," Mu retorted. "My guess is the Aegis only had the advantage cause that guy was already running low on power."

Everyone nodded at the explanation, seeing as it made sense to them. Mobile Suits did have a limited power supply, so it only made sense that using too much of it would hamper the performance.

"Well, in that case, I would also like to give my thanks to the pilot of the Strike as well," George said.

The 'oh crap' expressions on Mu, Murrue, and Natarle's faces were priceless.

"Hm? Asher? No, haven't seen him since we went to the bridge," Tolle said.

"I see," Kira mused. Having nothing better to do while the engineering team was doing repairs on the machines, Kira decided to take up Murdoch's request and go look for Asher.

"Man, that Asher guy sure is lazy to be going missing at a time like this," Huckmon commented. Turns out, when he was inside the Digivice, only Kira could hear him. Something he was planning on taking full advantage of.

"That's...not really the case," Kira sighed with a whisper, idly remembered how serious Asher was when he was on the job. Especially when it comes to cleaning and organizing supplies.

Any further conversation was cut off when they heard Miriallia scream in surprise. Both Kira and Tolle running to the source, Tolle worried that something happened to his girlfriend Miriallia until they saw Asher, face down on the ground and not moving. "What happened?" Tolle asked concern towards the scene in front of him.

"I...I...I accidentally pressed the wrong button, and he came tumbling out of the bathroom," Miriallia said, clearly shaken off the sudden experience. "Is he…?"

Tolle bent down and checked. "He's still got a pulse but…"

"We'd better get him to the infirmary," Kira said, to which they both nodded.

In the Vesalius, crew members were busy repairing the ship as they could. However, aside from that, the engineering team of the ship was nothing short of ecstatic thanks to something Athrun brought back. In the hangar was the severed forearm of the mysterious mobile suit, the Aegis having brought it back when it withdrew.

"Any progress on analyzing it so far?" Rau asked out of curiosity.

"Nothing so far," the engineer said. "Whatever it's made of, it's an unknown substance to us."

Rau actually felt surprised at that. "I see," he nodded. At that moment, Athrun happened to come in, have also been curious about the part he'd retrieved. Upon seeing Rau, he immediately saluted.

"Commander."

"Ah, Athrun, perfect timing," Rau nodded. "I was just talking about this piece you've brought back. It seems to have been made out of an unknown substance," he said.

"An unknown substance?" Athrun blinked in surprise.

"Yes. I must admit, I was impressed. You managed to not only fight but damage Knight-1 as well. Your father will be proud," Rau said. "But tell me, what did you think of that battle?"

Athrun frowned at that. "To be honest Commander, I got lucky," he admitted, much to Rau's surprise. "He wasn't at full strength. I've seen him fight before and last time he took out three G-units without any difficulty. But this time...he was slower than last time. Not by too much, but enough to notice. No doubt he'd used up a good portion of his energy defending the Alliance ship."

"I see," Rau nodded. However, before he could say anything else, Athrun's eyes widened in surprise.

"Commander!" he said, pointing at the severed limb. Everyone's attention was on the limb which was leaking something that looked like...data, from the saber wound.

"Something is wrong!" the engineer said. "The armor...it's losing stability. Its...its integrity is decreasing!" he said, before their eyes, the arm began breaking apart, dissolving into the same particles as before. It wasn't long before it was completely gone.

To say they were flabbergasted by the sight would be an understatement. The engineering team frantically scanned the hangar and found absolutely nothing. It was as if the limb was never there.

"Well, wasn't that interesting," Rau mused, but under his calm facade, his mind was going a mile a second. His ally needed to know about this.

Athrun sighed tiredly as he returned to his quarters. The day had been rather draining, but he couldn't relax. Knowing the Earth Forces were holding Lacus hostage was not helping with his mood in the matter. "Don't worry Lacus, I'll save you," he vowed.

"A truly admirable resolve, my lord," came a voice from seemingly nowhere.

Athrun's eyes widened when he heard that. Eyes darting across the room, he found he was alone. "I must be hearing things…" he sighed.

"No you are not," the voice said again, and this time he realized where it was coming from. The computer.

"What the…?!" Athrun gasped, and before his eyes, the screen glowed brightly and something...materialized. When the light died down, standing before him was a small creature about the size of a child. It was dressed in what looked like traditional samurai armor with a kendo head guard which obscured its features save for its glowing yellow eyes. It also wore what looked like a hakama under the armor, which had sleeves so long, it was actually holding its kendo sword through the fabric of the sleeves. Topping off the image was a pair of reptilian legs and a tail that made it painfully clear to him he was not dealing with a human.

"Greetings my lord, I am Kotemon," it said, introducing itself as Kotemon with a polite bow.

It was at this moment that Athrun wondered if he'd finally snapped under all the stress, and unknowingly mimicking his old friend, he promptly went to his bed and flopped on it. He figured some rest might calm his nerves, not once noticing the Digimon dutifully watching over him.

Back at the Archangel, Asher had been brought to the infirmary. What the doctor found out, though…

"It seems he collapsed out of shock," he said. "I don't understand why, but whatever caused it must have been bad enough that he's out cold. In fact, based on the nerve impulses we've gotten...it's almost as if someone made the poor boy think he was amputated."

"Amputated?" Kira gasped upon hearing that.

"Oi oi, isn't that just a bit...crazy?" Mu asked as well.

"Whatever the case, the impulses from his left forearm are a bit weaker than the rest of his body. He should be fine though with some rest," the Doctor explained. "Though I do recommend he take it easy from doing any heavy duty work from now on, at least until his arm goes back to normal." The Doctor turned to Murdoch.

"Right, I'll go easy on him until then. Thanks, doctor." Murdoch nodded in understanding. Although it may slow down his work a little, he wasn't about to push the boy. He wasn't heartless after all.

Kira was relieved to know Asher would be fine. However… 'Like his arm was amputated…' Kira thought, and realized it was the same spot the mysterious mobile suit had lost its arm...and he remembered how it reacted like a person who suddenly lost an arm. 'Could it be...no. That's impossible. It has to be a coincidence,' he shook his head at the thought. There was just no way. Even if it was the case, there was no way a pilot would feel the same thing their suit did.

"At any rate, he should wake up soon. The same goes for Miss Allster," the doctor said, gesturing to a nearby bed where Flay lay, Sai watching over her.

"How is she?" Kira asked.

"No change so far," Sai shook his head. "I guess seeing the Montgomery seemingly be destroyed was too much for her."

"I'm just glad everything worked out, though." Kira sighed...but frowned when he remembered his 'encounter' with George Allster. Sure the man had thanked him for protecting the ship but...Kira noticed he was rather tense when he heard Kira was a Coordinator. That soured the mood quite a bit.

"He was being a real jerk like that. See if we save his butt next time," Huckmon commented, causing Kira to sigh. While he appreciated the sentiment...he really wished Huckmon would be more...subtle, about his opinions sometimes.

However, it was at that moment that Flay began to stir. But when she did wake up, she shot out of bed, a horrified look in her eyes. "Flay," Sai said upon seeing her awake, and moved to calm her down, but the girl continued to scream. She clutched her head for a moment, before turning to Sai. "Papa…" she started.

"Oh man, that is terrifying," Huckmon said from inside of the Digivice, and with good reason too. The look the girl had was disturbing, to say the least.

"Papa! Where's Papa?" she asked.

Sai was about to tell her, but it seemed the girl was in her own world right now thanks to the last thing she saw before she fainted. "Where's Papa's ship?!" she grabbed Sai's uniform, tears in her eyes.

"Flay," Sai started, trying to tell her, but she was still too grief-stricken from what she had seen.

"Where's Papa's ship?! Answer me!" she demanded.

Sai was about to try to explain again but...he couldn't on account of the pillow that had just hit Flay in the face.

"Shut up! Some people are trying to sleep here!"

Everyone looked to the source and saw Asher sitting on his bed, his right arm in a position that showed he was the one who had thrown the pillow...and his eyes were closed before he flopped back down on his bed.

"...did he really just throw a pillow at Flay while he was asleep?" was all Kira could say. It seemed that Asher had an ability to know how best to kill a bad mood with sheer awkwardness whether he's conscious or not.

Eventually, they had to leave the infirmary (thankfully after Sai managed to properly explain the situation to Flay, which calmed her down). Kira soon found himself walking through the halls.

"I'm glad that ended the way it did," Huckmon commented. "That girl worries me."

"Hm? What do you mean?" Kira blinked. "Flay was just afraid because she thought her father had died. Why is that worrying?"

"Kira...I'll tell you something. I had a friend once. The closest thing to a 'parent' Gotsumon once had, a Yukidarumon, died protecting him from a Kuwagamon that was on a rampage. He was sad, he cried, he was angry, he even swore revenge for a while...but never once did he have the look in his eyes that Flay girl had. The look she had when she thought her father died was not normal by any means. I can't explain it, but...it was as if something twisted had taken her place for a moment there. I can't say for sure. You humans can be so hard to understand sometimes..." Huckmon sighed. He wasn't kidding too. The data he got from the internet was so jumbled up when it came to humans it was hard to decide what to think of them at times.

Kira couldn't help but gulp a little at that. Huckmon's words were definitely heavy with truth. The tone of voice told him as much. But still…he didn't really want to imagine what Huckmon meant by 'something twisted' even if he had an idea of what it was. Feeling decidedly uncomfortable with the topic, he opted to change the subject. "So...the Digital World you lived in...what was it like?"

"Well…" Huckmon adopted a thinking pose of sorts inside the Digivice. "Its...peaceful for the most part. Sure there's the occasional fight and some mon died every now and then thanks to some of the more feral and/or bad Digimon. But most of the time it's pretty peaceful where I'm from. If nothing else, we haven't had any wars in centuries, nor are we on the verge of any others. Can get boring sometimes, though."

"Sounds nice," Kira mused. To be honest, he was a little jealous of Huckmon. It seemed despite the dangers, his world was much more peaceful than this world. The more he thought about it, the more he hated the current situation, evident by how his fist clenched and how he looked out the window nearby.

"Kira?" Huckmon asked, noticing his partner's sudden silence.

Kira didn't get a chance to respond, as someone else beat him to it.

"What is the matter?" came Lacus' voice, prompting Kira to turn, and saw her floating in the hallway, Haro floating around her as well.

"What are you doing out here?" Kira asked in surprise.

"And how did you get out of the room again?" Huckmon couldn't help but add despite knowing only Kira heard him. He was seriously starting to wonder if that pink ball was really a Digimon in disguise.

Lacus just smiled at the question. "I was taking a stroll when I happened to hear someone talking to themselves in this hall," she explained. "Isn't with you?" Lacus asked as she looks around trying to find him.

Kira blushed a bit at that. Sure he knew he wasn't talking to himself, but the fact remained that he may as well have been talking to himself due to nobody being able to hear Huckmon while he was inside the Digivice. However, he quickly remembered the current situation, his tone turning serious.

"Asher is in the infirmary, but the doctor said he will be fine after some rest. You shouldn't be walking around on your own like this," he said. "You'll be accused of spying."

"Oh? I'm glad that nothing serious happened to Mr. Asher," Lacus smiled, before floating towards the glass. "But Mr. Pink here…" she started. On cue, the Haro floated past them.

"Haro."

"Loves to take walks," she finished, the two of them seeing the machine float away while it was upside down. "In fact, if a door is locked, he will always open it and go out," she added.

'That explains a lot…' Kira and Huckmon mentally deadpanned, as Haro floated by, chirping "I won't accept that!" repeatedly.

"In any case, let's go back to your room," Kira said. "Come on."

Lacus however, looked at his hand, smiled a bit before floating away, much to his surprise. "The fighting has stopped, I see."

"Well, yes...thanks to you," Kira sighed with a frown. He really wasn't happy about what happened.

"Yet you have such a sad expression," Lacus observed after pushing off the ceiling and landing back onto 'ground' level.

Kira sighed at that. "The truth is, I don't really want to fight. I honestly don't see a point to this whole war. I'm only fighting to protect this ship because my friends are on board," Kira explained with a tired sigh. "Something Asher said to me once always comes to mind whenever I think about the war. It's stupid that people are differentiated into Natural and Coordinator. I honestly don't care about that, let alone think that's a reason to be fighting. On top of that Athrun was a very close friend of mine."

"Athrun?" Lacus seemed surprised at that after so far waiting patiently for him to finish talking.

"Athrun Zala. I'd never had thought he'd become the pilot of that mobile suit, the Aegis," Kira explained.

"Is that so?" Lacus smiled. "Both Athrun and you are very good people," she said, before looking down. "That is a very sad reality."

"Do you know Athrun?" Kira asked in surprise.

"Athrun Zala is the person I will eventually marry," she answered, to which Kira didn't know what to say, though remembering the little talk he had with Asher...he now felt a little dirty for having those kinds of thoughts about Athrun's fiance. "He's a kind person, but very quiet," she continued as she caught Haro who was floating by. "But he gave me this Haro. I told him how much I enjoyed Haro and he gave me lots of them," she smiled. "It would be nice if the two of you would no longer have to fight against each other," she said, sounding sad at the end.

Meanwhile, in the Vesalius, Athrun had woken up, idly wondering/hoping that what he'd seen before had been a dream. A small child-like creature wearing Kendo armor suddenly appeared out from his computer and greeted him. Athrun was seriously wondering if he had finally developed some kind of PTSD.

"Good morning my lord, did you sleep well?" Kotemon asked from his spot on the desk while sitting in a Seiza style.

So much for hope… "Waugh!" Athrun gasped in surprise...and promptly fell out of bed. "Y-you're real?!"

"Of course my lord, why wouldn't I be?" Kotemon said.

"But I...you…" Athrun struggled to find the right words to describe the situation. Unfortunately, it was doubtful such words even existed considering how it seemed the world had suddenly decided to say 'screw it' and stop making sense if the creature on the desk was any indication. Eventually, he gave up and decided for the sake of his nerves to just roll with it. "Alright...Kotemon was it?" he started, remembering what it had called itself last time.

"Yes my lord?" Kotemon asked.

Athrun's eye twitched a little at that. "Please start from the beginning. Who and what are you? Why are you here? And why are you calling me your lord?"

"Certainly," Kotemon bowed. "As I said before, I am Kotemon, a Digimon who hails from the Digital World. For the longest time, I have been searching for one I could pledge my allegiance and my blade to, and as such, I have traveled the world far and wide. During such travels, I happened upon a strange disturbance and was sucked in. I had thought I would meet my end before I could find the lord I wished to serve, but it seemed fortune had not abandoned me yet. When I awoke, I found myself watching over a strange conference of creatures, humans as I later learned from the system you call the World Wide Web," Kotemon said.

'The Internet huh…' Athrun thought. It kind of made sense to him. As for the conference, he had a feeling he knew what Kotemon was talking about.

"Out of curiosity I stayed and watch, till I saw you step up and give that speech. Call it instinct, or perhaps fate, but the moment I laid eyes on you I knew there was something different about you. I followed you after the meeting, and saw you speak to your...father was it? The moment I realized why you were fighting I knew you were the lord I wished to serve. You lost your home and someone you cared for, yet you did not hate, did not despair. You fought to prevent such an atrocity from happening again and wished only to protect your people and those you cared for. I was so moved!" Kotemon actually rubbed the head guard where his eyes were as if to rub away tears.

Athrun for his part felt more and more awkward by the moment. He really didn't see what was the big deal. A lot of ZAFT soldiers lost family in the Bloody Valentine and also fought the Earth Alliance with the same reason as others, what difference does he was from the rest? "But Kotemon...why choose me? I can't be the only ZAFT soldier who's fighting to protect the PLANTS after the Bloody Valentine," he said.

"True, but I did not feel a connection to them as I did you. Whatever the case, I've already decided. I choose to serve you, my lord," Kotemon said with a final nod.

"You're...not letting this go, are you?" Athrun sighed. Somehow he knew this was going to lead to a headache really soon.

"Of course! My blade and strength are now yours to wield as you see fit!" Kotemon said, raising his training sword as if it were a real one. Athrun didn't bother trying to comment on that. At this point, he figured he'd just roll with it and hope for the best.

"Alright, I see you're not going to stop...but can you at least stop calling me your lord? I'm not some noble or anything. My name is Athrun Zala," he said.

"Understood, Athrun-sama," Kotemon said.

"A little better I guess…" Athrun said as he scratched his temple.

A few hours had passed, and currently, Asher was laying in bed alone in the infirmary. Idly lifting his left arm up for him to see, he noted it still felt a little numb, but overall it was going back to normal.

"Well...at least I found my answer," he said with an empty chuckle to himself. "Sure wish it didn't actually hurt, though…" he sighed. He was glad, VERY glad to know that the damage to his suit didn't completely translate to damage on his real body, but the fact remained he had felt as if his own arm had been cut off. He recalled something like this. Itsuki had told him about it once. Apparently, some fighters could get so in-sync with their Gunpla that they were 'Assimilated', resulting in a massive performance boost, but at the cost of the fighter feeling the damage as well. Clenching his left fist, he put it back down. He had a lot to think about right now.

Turning over to try and get some more rest, he tried to sleep, but he was disturbed when he noticed something go past the infirmary. Getting up in curiosity, he slowly got out of the room, just in time to see Kira with Lacus going through the hallways.

'Huh, I wonder where they heading to. Time shows that it seems pretty late for taking a stroll or anything. Could it be a late night date? Heheheh.' Asher decided to stalk them, lucky for him the doctor wasn't around so he could sneak out without any problems. He didn't bother changing his clothes yet, but he pulled on his personal pair of gloves (he felt weird whenever he wasn't wearing them except when he was taking a bath) and his shoes and promptly followed the two little lovebirds (or so he assumed).

Trying to catch up both of them without noticing, Asher felt something is weird with Kira, seeing him frantically looking around at the corner like he was evading something, even if they wanted to have secret date something's not right with the way he saw at Kira's expression wasn't wearing a 'looking forward to our date' face. His eyes widened when he saw Kira suddenly shove Lacus into a corner. Fortunately, before he did anything...rash, he saw Kira block Lacus from view. Oh, and he noticed Lacus waving at him, to which he just awkwardly waved back. So much for stealth, makes him wondering when she noticed him.

However, he quickly ducked into a nearby room when he noticed Sai and Miriallia approach...and facepalmed when he noticed the Haro and Lacus walk right out of the 'hiding spot'. Sometimes he wondered if this girl was smart or if she was just an airhead of a Coordinator.

Even if it was now clear what Kira planned to do was not what Asher had in mind, he had to hand it to the guy, he had balls for trying to sneak the girl out of the ship, and try to do it alone at that. He also couldn't help but smile when it was clear Sai and Miriallia agreed with him and were now helping him. With that in mind, he followed them till they were near the locker rooms where the space suits were being kept. He had a pretty good idea what they planned to do, and being in charge of supplies, he knew there was no way that dress was fitting into a space suit. With that in mind, he figured now as a good time as ever to make himself known. "Hey," he said, causing the three of them to jump. "Relax, it's just me," Asher chuckled.

"Hello, Mr. Asher. I see you decided to show yourself," Lacus waved.

"Wait, you knew he was around?" Sai blinked.

"Of course, he followed us shortly after Mr. Kira told me to follow him," Lacus smiled.

Asher resisted the urge to facepalm. She knew he was around for THAT long? He knew he wasn't exactly a ninja, but this...this was just embarrassing.

"Asher, are you alright now? We were very worried when we found you unconscious before. The doctor said something happened to your left arm," Kira asked worriedly, which suddenly reminded him of how the mysterious mobile suit loses its arms. But Kira quickly discarded that thought, thinking it was just a coincidence.

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine right now! See these guns?" Asher asked as he tried to show his left arm muscle which is not much to show off while the rest just sweatdrop at him except for Lacus who chuckled finding it funny. Asher quickly puts down his left arm down and cough himself.

"Ahem! Anyway, I know you need a spacesuit, but no way that dresses of yours is gonna fit into it. So…" Asher went through a small drawer and pulled out a small bag. "You can put it in here," he said.

"Thank you, this is much appreciated," Lacus said, taking the bag.

"Thank you. Thank you," Haro chirped.

"Oh, and seeing as she'll have to strip…" Asher added, before trailing off and looking at Miriallia. "Space suits are on the left, center closet," he simply said.

"Right," Miriallia nodded before she and Lacus went into the locker room. A few minutes later saw them come out, Lacus now dressed in a space suit, her dress in the bag, before Kira went in to change into his flight suit. The group quickly made their way to the hangar, with Asher checking first to make sure Murdoch or anyone wasn't there. Once he gave them the 'all clear' sign, they went in, and easily found the Strike and Kira and Lacus boarded it.

"Thank you," Lacus said.

"Don't mention it," Sai replied as Lacus went in.

"Let's meet again," she smiled.

"Don't think that's a good idea," Asher said. "We don't want someone using you as a hostage again."

Kira began initializing the Strike, starting it up. As he did, Miriallia spoke up. "Kira. You will be returning, right?"

"Why are you asking that question?" Asher asked, before smirking. "It's obvious, right? He'll come back for sure," he grinned, giving a thumbs up.

"Asher…!" Kira blinked but smiled as he was grateful that Asher had complete faith in him. "I'll definitely come back," he nodded. "Don't worry."

"Hey! What are you doing?!" came Murdoch's voice as he had just entered the hangar.

"Crap! It's the old man! Hurry, get going!" Asher said as the three of them backed away from the Strike. Nodding one last time, Kira closed the hatch and initiated the launch. As he did, the bridge received warnings.

"What is it?" Murrue asked.

"Strike! What are you doing? Kira Yamato!" Natarle demanded.

The screen changed to show Mu. "The kid's taking the girl out!" he reported. "It's too late! The air lock's already been opened!" That didn't sit well with the bridge crew. Through which part of that exactly...probably varied from person to person.

Back in the hangar, the Strike was ready to launch as the Aile Striker pack had equipped, "We're going now. Please hold on tight." Kira notified to Lacus as he prepared to launch the Strike to space.

"You too!" Haro suddenly replied, with that, the Strike took off from the Archangel catapult and headed out to space as its Phase Shift activates, headed towards the Vesalius behind the Archangel.

Meanwhile, in the Vesalius, they had detected mobile suits signal from the Strike and reported that they're headed their location. Both Rau and the captain were taken a bit of surprised hearing that. With immediate action, the ship's announced battle station level one and ordered all pilots to on standby to prepare for battle.

However, before they prepare to sortie, an open communication coming through and Athrun heard a familiar voice, "This is Earth Alliance Mobile Suit, Strike. Do you copy?"

"Kira? What is he doing?" Athrun said as he wondering why his old friend was suddenly making contact with his ship. The commander had ordered Athrun and the rest of the pilots on standby for now, as such he was currently inside of the Aegis.

"Is the opponent with the white and blue machine your friend, Athrun-sama?" Kotemon appeared on one of the screens inside of Aegis, Athrun wanted to ask how he got in but then he remembered that Kotemon had first seen him from the internet in the council meeting, so he refrained from asking that.

"Why did you ask that, Kotemon?" Athrun asked

"Forgive me if I offend you, but when you were fighting against that person, your movement was slower especially whenever you were about to deliver a blow. It was clear to me you were hesitating, and seeing as you called him by name, I assume you know this opponent very well Athrun-sama," Kotemon explain.

Athrun looked down at that. It was true that a part of him still hesitated whenever he had to fight Kira. How could he be serious? He didn't want to fight him in the first place. That's why he tried to capture the Strike in one piece and hopefully find a way to let Kira live in the PLANTs one way or another.

"Yes, his name is Kira Yamato. He's a childhood friend of mine when we were little, we studied together in a preparatory school in Copernicus City. He was always a crybaby at that time but he always thought about others first before himself. He's a kind person." Athrun explained, smiling a little as he remembered those days, some of the happiest memories he had.

"If possible I want to help Kira, I want to help him get away from the Earth Alliance and whatever grip they must have on him, as well as Lacus! I'm sure they're forcing Kira to do this for whatever twisted reason they have!" Athrun said.

"As expected of my lord! Such determination and pure intention to save your fiance and your childhood friend!" Kotemon started crying fountains of tears from both sides and he rubbed the water away with his right sleeve. As the tears stopped, with just a small hint of it from his yellow eyes. "Athrun-sama, I, Kotemon shall offer my sword and skill for you to use as you please. Just ask and I will do what I can to help your wish come true!"

"You'll help me?" Athrun asked he wasn't sure how it would be possible for Kotemon to help him until he remembered that Digimon was currently inside of the Aegis's system and that triggered something in Athrun's mind. "Wait, did you do something to the Aegis when I was engaging Knight-1?"

"That is correct. Your opponent at the time had the stronger blade, but his skills were passable at best. I merely gave you a helping hand, as I wish to do so again," Kotemon nodded.

"I see, no wonder the Aegis suddenly moved differently from before," Athrun remembered the fact that it was thanks to Kotemon that he'd been able to damage Knight-1 before. Speaking of damage he looked at Kotemon.

"Kotemon, what do you think of Knight-1?" Athrun asked.

"Hm? Well…..I can honestly say that his sword skills are passable at best since he had few openings. I'm not sure if they're holding back or not because I don't sense any evil or killing intention when we clashed our blades together." Kotemon explain.

"You can feel the pilot's feelings with that?" Athrun asked he wondered if that was even possible in the first place.

"Well, when two warriors are locked in combat, it is possible for them to feel a hint of their opponent's feelings while exchanging blows or receiving attacks head on. I'm still in training, but there's no doubt that your friend Kira and that Knight-1 had no intention of fighting or hurting you in the first place." Kotemon said

"For this Kira person, several emotions come together but mostly feelings of hesitation. However, that hesitation faded when it managed to cut off your machines limbs. Furthermore, I felt something else, there were more than one feeling at the time, a feeling of trust and determination from a separate individual." Kotemon continued but Athrun beat him into it.

"Wait! Separate individual? You mean there's someone besides Kira in Strike?!" Athrun asked, but remembered the fact that Kotemon helped him which enhance his Aegis performance, and the Strike had been the same. "You mean Kira has a Digimon like you with him?"

"I suspect so, Athrun-sama. Which is why I felt that emotion from them at that time. But based on their fighting stance and style, it's most likely that all they wanted to do was disable your machine to make it unable to fight." Kotemon nodded.

Athrun thought about it and nodded in agreement. Kira was not a cold-blooded killer and the deaths by him were most likely an accident as these G-weapons were still prototypes and thus were still plagued by a few glitches and bugs that cropped up from time to time. The fact that Kira chose to just disable the machine with the help of a Digimon made it clear to him that Kira is still the same as always. The fact that the pilots of those GINNs survived the battle with the Strike despite the damage they took proves it. If that's the case, they wouldn't have to worry about losing the lives of their men.

"As for the Knight-1….." Athrun had to admit, he was anxious about it and wondered what will Kotemon say about this. "I'm sorry, Athrun-sama. But I cannot describe it very well." Kotemon bowed in a Dogeza style, which almost caused Athrun to slip off from his seat and adjusting himself.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not very sure, Athrun-sama. Something about that opponent seems different from anything I've faced before. However, I know that whoever or whatever it was had no intention of fighting or striking down his enemies. It's more like it's trying to protect something and find something." Kotemon explain.

"Find something?" Athrun asked. "Is it possible that pilot has a Digimon too?"

"I don't think so, Athrun-sama. As I felt only one presence during that fight, but I did not sense any evil or killing intention from it, so it is possible he wanted to disable your machine, same as your friend. It may be possible that Kira person learned a thing or two from Knight-1."

Kotemon looked down, a thought running through his mind, to which Athrun noticed. "What's wrong, Kotemon?"

"Hm? Oh, it's just something is bothering me about Knight-1. I may be wrong but somehow I think it's related to a Digimon in some other way. It might be my imagination as I have never seen a Digimon like that before. I suggest the only way to solve the mystery is to ask Knight-1." Kotemon said.

Athrun nodded slightly. Even if he had hoped for a more definitive answer...that was probably asking for too much. By now, though, he'd received orders to launch, as it seems Kira had come...to return Lacus. Of course, he also came with demands that they stop chasing the Legged Ship AND that the one to pick Lacus up was him.

Athrun was a little surprised at that, but he couldn't help but smile a bit. That sounded like something Kira would do. "Commander! Allow me to go!" he said through the comm.

"We still don't know what the enemy's intentions are," one of the bridge crew cautioned. "We don't even know if Miss Lacus really is in there."

Athrun however, wasn't deterred. "Commander!" he urged, looking at Rau who was standing by the captain.

Rau paused before his lips lifted a little into something between a smile and a smirk. "Alright. I authorize it," he said.

"Thank you very much!" Athrun smiled, before cutting off the connection. Going through the necessary checks, he was soon ready to launch. "Athrun Zala, Aegis. Launching!"


	10. Shinka! BaoHuckmon!

Asher was...annoyed, to say the least.

"What the heck were you thinking pulling off this stunt?!" Murdoch scolded, though what exactly he was more upset about...he wasn't so sure. Really, everyone had mixed feelings about what was currently going on.

"I helped Kira send Lacus back to her home. To her family," Asher said simply, not a trace of guilt or remorse evident in his voice. "I've got my own standards as a human being, and I'm not about to throw them away for this stupid war." There, he said it.

Murdoch knew he should be angry at him...but he just couldn't. Asher was right. Maybe not from a military view, but from the view of well...human decency. "Just don't do it again," he sighed. "And seeing as you're clearly feeling better, I expect you to be back on the job by tomorrow," he finished.

"Yeah, yeah. As if I can stand the mess around here when I was absent," Asher said as he looked around the hangar….even if couldn't be helped considering the situation, it still made his eyes twitch in annoyance just looking at the mess the supply rooms sometimes had. As he walked away, he couldn't help but mutter, "The rest is up to you Kira, make sure she gets back safely."

The Strike was currently flying through space. So far it seems his demands were being followed, as the Vesalius had stopped moving, and had launched a single Mobile Suit, the Aegis. It wasn't long before the Aegis was in front of the Strike, which quickly lifted its rifle and pointed at the Aegis (though Huckmon made sure that the shot was aimed for the head rather than anywhere that would likely destroy the suit. Likewise, Kotemon was ready to ignite a beam saber and block the shot if it came to that).

"Athrun Zala?" Kira checked.

"That's right," Athrun confirmed.

"Open your cockpit!" Kira ordered. He needed to be sure.

Athrun complied, and opened his cockpit, just as Kira did the same. Once both cockpits were open, Kira turned to Lacus and said, "Say something."

Lacus seemed confused at the request before Kira clarified. "He can't see your face. He must be convinced that it's you."

"Oh. I understand," Lacus nodded. "Hello, Athrun. It's nice to see you," she said, waving at Athrun.

"Damn it," Haro added as if just to further prove that it was them.

Athrun smiled a bit, both at seeing Lacus safe and realizing it hadn't been a trick. "Confirmed," he said to the comms.

"Then take her with you," were the orders he received. With that, he unstrapped himself and came out of the Aegis.

Seeing Athrun ready, Kira told Lacus, "Now go."

Nodding, she quickly got out of the Strike and floated towards the Aegis. Kira smiled as he saw her go, happy that he had managed to get her away from the hostage situation. Idly glancing at the console, he saw Huckmon smiling as well.

Once Lacus was with Athrun, she turned to the Strike. "Thank you for everything, Kira," she said, before adding, "And you, too, Athrun," she said, turning to her fiance.

The two of them smiled towards the Strike before Athrun decided to speak. "Kira! You come too!" he said. "There's no reason why you should remain with the Earth Forces!"

Kira frowned at that. "Believe me, I don't want to fight you," he sighed, idly looking towards Huckmon, who gave him a knowing smile. "But I won't abandon the Archangel. My friends are aboard that ship! I promised them I'd return!" he said.

Back at the Aegis, Athrun wasn't really happy with that answer, but he knew Kira wasn't about to change his mind. "Then I've got no choice," Athrun said. "The next time we battle, I will personally defeat you!"

"The same goes for me!" Kira replied, before closing his cockpit, and flying away.

Inside the Aegis's system, Kotemon was tearing up from this conversation. There was nothing sadder than two friends forced to fight each other thanks to circumstances outside of their control. Despite that, he couldn't help but feel proud of both his lord and his lord's friend for being willing to fight for their beliefs even if it hurt to do so.

However, the moment was ruined when a warning came up. It seemed another suit had launched from the Vesalius, a white CGUE. "Commander?" Athrun gasped in surprise. Kotemon on the other hand… "Coward! How dare you sully this honor-bound agreement!" he roared, waving his sword at the image of the CGUE, anger veins visible even through his head guard.

"I had a feeling it would end up like this," Asher frowned. He was currently inside of the Cyber World, having jacked in not long after Kira had launched. He'd already found some files on the Commander of the Vesalius, Rau Le Creuset, and frankly, there was just something about the guy that made him feel you'd trust him at your own risk. Case in point, it was clear he had no intention of upholding his end of this little 'deal', something Mu clearly thought of as well, seeing as he had just launched in his Moebius Zero.

"Fine, if he wants to play dirty, we can play dirty too," Asher frowned, pulling out his Digivice. He'd already made his choice. He was going to protect this ship and the people on board, and knowing that the damage on his Gundam wouldn't reflect on his real body later beyond aches, bruises, and phantom pains only gave him more reason to fight.

"Athrun! Get back to the ship with Miss Lacus!" Rau ordered as he sped towards the Archangel, the Moebius Zero speeding forward to meet him.

Kira likewise was surprised. "Lieutenant La Flaga!"

"Did you really believe they'd sit back and watch?" Mu said.

"They will if they want to go back in one piece," came a familiar voice. Right before… "Garuru Cannon!" a shot sped right past the Moebius Zero, coming from the Archangel.

"What?!" everyone gasped, Rau moving to dodge, but the shot grazed one of the CGUE's thrusters, leaving a nasty spot of ice where it hit. Looking to the source, everyone saw it, the mysterious mobile suit, completely repaired and floating next to the Archangel, its arm cannon ready for another shot.

However, before the fight could go any further than that, Lacus had hit the communicator switch on the Aegis terminal and began talking.

"Commander Rau Le Creuset!" she started. "Stop it at once! Are you trying to turn this location into a battlefield when there is a representative of the memorial delegation here? I will not allow it! Stop your combat operation at once!"

Asher seemed uncertain. On one hand, Lacus was calling off the fight. On the other hand...he had a clear shot. The decision was taken out of his hands though when Lacus spoke again. "You as well, White Mobile Suit!" Lacus added.

Asher just chuckled slightly at that, before opening his communications. "Very well. Provided ZAFT leave this ship that is under my protection alone!" he said, once more using his best 'Royal Knight' voice. Sounding dignified was harder than it looked. "Fail to do so and I will finish what I started before!" he added, the cannon now pointing at the Vesalius, specifically its missing lower half.

Rau growled a bit. "What a troublesome young lady," he said, but complied all the same. "Roger that, Lacus Clyne," he said through the comms and promptly turned around.

Athrun let out a small sigh of relief...though in doing so he noticed Kotemon waving his sword angrily in one of the screens, before quickly shutting it off before Lacus saw him. He felt it best to not reveal his...new partner so quickly. He didn't realize that the moment he thought that, something glowed in his pocket.

Seeing them leave, the mysterious mobile suit lowered its weapon, and before everyone's eyes, it started to vanish again.

Kira saw that, and finally working up his courage, he spoke. "Please, wait!" he shouted, catching its attention. "Who are you?" he finally asked. "Why are you helping us?"

"Kira doesn't know him? Aren't they allies?" Athrun said in surprise.

The mobile suit looked at him for a moment, its body continuing to vanish before finally, it spoke. "I am Omni Gundam. As for why I'm helping, this ship is under my protection for a personal reason. But remember this! My actions have nothing to do with your war!" he said as he finally vanished.

"Omni…" Kira blinked.

"...Gundam?" Athrun unknowingly finished for his friend, as both had heard the name on the open channel. Now the question was if it was the name of the Pilot, or simply the suit. He had a feeling it was the suit. But...why did they both feel they'd seen the name before. As if someone switched a light in their heads, they opened up their OS initialization screens and realized where they'd heard the name. There, right on their screens were the words that made up the OS system, and their acronym was…

"Gundam…!" both of them gasped in realization.

A couple of hours later….Huckmon really, Really, REALLY wanted to jump out of the Digivice and bite the black haired female human's head off. Currently, Kira was standing trial for what he did, and Huckmon didn't like it one bit. Even if Kira had already been mentally prepared for this.

"Kira Yamato's actions are in violation of Article 3, Section B in violation of Article 10, Section F and go against Article 13, Section 3 of Military law. Therefore said person shall be sentenced to death!"

The look of horror Kira got was bad. It got worse when he realized his Digivice was shaking, meaning Huckmon was about to jump out. He was pretty sure Huckmon maiming and/or killing someone wasn't going to help anyone's case. That in mind, he put his hand into his pocket and grabbed hold of the Digivice in an attempt to stop the angry Digimon.

Fortunately, Murrue wasn't done, as she smiled and added, "However, this is purely a sentence for those under court-martial."

"Huh?" Huckmon blinked, actually stopping his attempt to get out.

"The military law carries with it no provision to sentence a civilian," Murrue continued. "I call upon Kira Yamato to consider his actions seriously from now on. I now adjourn this court case."

"In other words, from now on don't do stuff like that without permission," Mu added as he got up, looking glad that this was finally over, evident by how he casually tossed the law book aside.

Kira nodded and sighed as he got out. However, when they got out of the room…

"Asher, please calm down!" Miriallia said, almost sounding desperate.

"Don't stop me! I'm gonna save our friend!" Asher shouted as Sai, Kuzzey, Tolle, and Miriallia were holding back the boy who was brandishing a sledgehammer over his head. As if to make his intentions even more obvious, the phone in his pocket was playing the sound of the cavalry charge bugle call.

The scene was so awkward, even the normally straight-laced Natarle Badgiruel had no words to say.

"...I'm starting to wonder if that friend of yours is crazy, Kira." was all Huckmon could say to his partner. The sad part was Kira didn't know whether to refute him or not.

"Kid, please put the hammer away before you hurt someone," Mu chuckled nervously. "Kira's not in any trouble."

"Eh?" Asher blinked, and somehow the music he was playing stopped. Complete with the sound of a record scratching to a halt. Nobody commented on that.

"Yes, as Kira is still a civilian, the military law doesn't quite apply to him. As long as he doesn't do anything like this again, there won't be any problems," Murrue explained. "And put that sledgehammer down. Mind you, military AND normal law Do apply to a civilian attacking an officer."

Asher blinked, looked at the sledgehammer he still had over his head...and promptly hid it behind his back. "Oh, uh...would you look at the time, the old man needs me back at the hangar!" Asher said before beating a hasty retreat. Kira was pretty sure humans shouldn't be able to run that fast in the low gravity of the ship…

"Anyone else who thinks our volunteer is getting...strange these days, raise your hand," Mu couldn't help but say. Everyone raised their hands. "Great, so I'm not the only one...and I honestly don't know if that's a good thing..."

"I'm seriously wondering if that child was insane from the start," Natarle said as she sighed. "Though that unknown mobile suits, it was called Omni Gundam, right? Does it mean that it's one of our own? It does bear the same name as the OMNI enforcers, " Natarle wondered. "What did he mean by 'nothing to do with your war'?" Natarle couldn't help but ask.

"Beats me, before we tried to communicate with it, it just disappeared. I doubt that it's related to them anyway. Well, at least we know what it called, for now. Thanks to this kid." Mu said as he brought Kira closer with his hands on his shoulder.

"Good job, Kid. At least, we manage to get some communication."

"Eh? Erm, I was just curious why he helped us out every time the Archangel was in trouble. Since he did say that this ship is under his protection. Though, I'd also like to thank him for saving me a few times. If it weren't for him, I'm not sure if I'd be standing here right now." Kira said

"Anyway, we will leave that discussion for later. Kira, I hope you remember your action today." Murrue said to the young pilot who nodded in understanding.

Meanwhile, back with Asher, he sighed in relief knowing that Kira wasn't getting into trouble for now, "Well at least, that problem is solved. Although I'm still wondering if it was a good idea to announce myself like that….Nah Omni Gundam sounds better than what Lacus called me. 10 bucks that I'll have just added more questions for them since I said my actions have nothing to do with this war," Asher said while heading towards the hangar only found Murdoch was waiting for him impatiently and his left eye twitch when he saw the sledgehammer behind Asher. "...I'm in trouble aren't I?" Asher groaned. Murdoch just nodded.

Meanwhile, at the Gamow, the ZAFT forces were discussing their next plan of attack. "Sure it's possible to catch up to them before they join the fleet, but we only have 10 minutes once we get there before we come within firing range of the lunar fleet," Nicol said, caution clear in his voice.

"You mean we have 10 whole minutes," Dearka said.

"I suggest the cowards remain silent," Yzak added. Nicol frowned at that. "Are there only 10 minutes, or a full 10 minutes? It's all about how you view it. I say if we have a full 10 minutes before they join the lunar fleet, it's a chance we can't overlook."

"I agree," Dearka added. "The success of a surprise attack isn't measured by the actual time spent."

"I know that, but…" Nicol started, but Yzak cut him off.

"I hear the Vesalius will be returning as soon as Miss Lacus is handed over to Commander Laconi's ship," Yzak said. "We'll sink the legged ship before that. Got it?"

"Will it really work that easily?" Nicol frowned.

"What was that?" Yzak glared.

"You're forgetting one thing. Knight-1. As long as that suit keeps protecting the legged ship, how can you say for sure this plan will go anywhere near as smoothly as you think?" Nicol retorted back, in his mind going back to the incident at Artemis. He wasn't stupid or overconfident. He knew Knight-1 had completely out-classed him and if it wanted, it could have killed him at any time. To underestimate that suit may as well be a death wish.

"Didn't you hear?" Dearka grinned. "Athrun managed to damage it pretty badly."

"If Athrun can do it, so can I," Yzak smirked.

"The reports also said it had blocked the cannons of the Vesalius and destroyed them. We've already seen what it can do when it's at full power," Nicol shot back. It...annoyed him how lightly Yzak and Dearka were taking this opponent. Then again, they hadn't felt what it was like fighting that suit one on one. The G-Weapons may as well have been Mobile Armors compared to that suit. It wasn't something they could fight head on and win in a normal fight.

"Then we'll just have to take out the legged ship before it can come to their aid," Yzak said. At this point, Nicol knew it was pointless to try and argue with him.

"Very well," he nodded.

At the same time, in the Vesalius, Athrun was floating through the halls, his attention on the device in his hand. It was colored a purplish red with some white accents mixed here and there. A color that reminded him of the Aegis.

"Something wrong, Athrun-sama?" Kotemon asked from inside the Digivice.

"Ah, no," Athrun shook his head. "I guess I...just have a hard time believing everything that's been happening. I mean, it's not...normal for a device to suddenly appear in my pocket out of nowhere," he admitted.

"I understand," Kotemon nodded. "But still, it is truly humbling to know my lord is one of the chosen warriors of legend. This Digivice is the proof of that," he said.

Athrun frowned slightly at that. He...honestly didn't know how much he believed that legend Kotemon told him, but apparently this...Digivice was a holy relic to his people. That's why it appears to anyone was a very big deal. Any further thoughts were interrupted when…

"Haro. Haro. Athrun," a familiar voice came as Haro came bouncing through the hall. Literally.

"I still find it hard to believe you created that, Athrun-sama," Kotemon sweat dropped as Athrun casually caught the Haro. For a supposed machine...it was rather lively.

Athrun didn't reply. Instead, he sighed and said, "Lacus!" As true enough, Lacus came floating through the hall too.

"Haro seems to be overly excited," she chuckled. "He's happy to see you after all this time."

"Haro has no such emotional side to him," Athrun commented. He should know. He built the robot.

"You are a guest here, but the Vesalius is still a warship. Please do not wander outside of your room too much," he said as he escorted her back to her room.

"I'm told that everywhere I go here," Lacus sighed. "It isn't any fun."

"It can't be helped. It's the position you're in," Athrun tried to explain.

"Athrun-sama, you shouldn't be so blunt with a lady," Kotemon chided. "Especially your future bride."

Athrun developed a small sweat drop at that, before adding, "But if there's anything you need, maybe I can…"

"No, it's fine," Lacus reassured before she looked at him. "Is something wrong Athrun? You seem troubled."

"Well...I was wondering how you were feeling," Athrun said. "I mean...you were taken as a hostage and…"

Lacus smiled and said, "I'm fine, thank you. Your friend and one of the crew members treated me very well on that ship. I have to admit, it was very funny seeing them together like that," she chuckled slightly, remembering the 'headlock' part.

"Them?" Athrun blinked. Lacus nodded her head.

"While I was on the ship, other than Mr. Kira, it was another young man named Asher who often would talk. He's a strange person. Strange but kind. I must admit, it was rather entertaining hearing how he thought the war was, in his words, "an idiotic war" and how he thought it was stupid that people are seen as Natural and Coordinator." she chuckled.

Athrun wasn't so sure how he felt about that, seeing as he lost his mother in the Bloody Valentine. But he was glad in a way to know there was someone who didn't care about that. At least Kira wasn't completely alone.

"It was also kind of funny how he put Mr. Kira in that headlock that one time," she chuckled.

"Idiot. Idiot," Haro chirped.

"...wait, what?" Athrun blinked now he was a little worried.

"Don't worry, Athrun. Mr. Asher may be a little...eccentric, but I know he means well," Lacus reassured.

"He was very quick to stick up for Mr. Kira whenever others started to doubt him. I'm sure you'd get along with him just fine," she said. "Maybe he'll give you a headlock as well," Lacus joked lightly.

"I-Is that so?" Athrun sweat dropped a little, though he had a small smile at the same time. If this friend really did stick up for Kira so much, maybe there was a way to get him to leave that ship after all. He would also like to see what kind of person this Asher is. After he made sure this 'Asher' wasn't just trying to manipulate his friend.

"Achoo!" Asher sneezed, he rubbed his nose and wondering who could it be talking behind his back. Shaking his head he got back to work. "Better make everything in order, for the meetup," he muttered, seeing as they were very close to meeting up with the 'Lunar Fleet' or '8th Fleet'.

"...10 bucks say ZAFT will try something before that happens," he deadpanned to himself. Those guys were more persistent than a starving fly sometimes. Deciding to go to the mess hall for a quick bite, he noticed Flay walking into the room, her father by her side. When he looked inside, he saw them walking towards Kira.

"Oh boy…" Asher groaned, wishing he had taken the sledgehammer...if only Murdoch hadn't literally had them chained to the Moebius Zero for 'safe keeping'. He was pretty sure the part where they were chained to the gun was on purpose too. He was soon surprised though when they went up to Kira...and apologized. "Wait, what?"

Kira was also surprised at that. "Huh?"

"I wanted to apologize for not thanking you earlier for helping to save my Daddy," Flay clarified.

"I'd like to also apologize for how I treated you the first time as well," George added. "I won't deny...I am rather...cautious around Coordinators what with the war and everything, something I'm afraid I may have ended up passing on to my daughter here," he said. "But it doesn't excuse how I acted the first time. That's why I'd like to also say thank you for protecting the ships, and for all your hard work," he said with a smile.

"Ah...it's fine," Kira nodded, a little bashful at the sudden thanks.

Asher continued to listen from behind the door. "Heh...guess I misjudged them a bit," he chuckled, before deciding he'd have his meal later. He didn't want to ruin the moment. However…

"All units, take level one battle stations!" Murrue ordered over the comms. "I repeat, level one battle stations!"

"Welp, there goes lunch…" Asher sighed, before going to the hangar, he'd find a place to jack in as soon as things were in order.

As the others ran out of the mess hall, Kira accidentally bumped into a little girl who was running as well. "Oh, are you alright? Here," Kira said, but Flay beat him to the punch, helping the little girl up.

"Sorry about that, Kira was in a hurry. We're entering another battle, but don't worry. Everything is going to be alright," she said. "We'll be fine with everyone protecting the ship."

Kira smiled slightly at the sight and nodded in agreement. It wasn't just him and Mu anymore. He had Huckmon with him, and they had Omni as well. With renewed determination, he ran towards the hangar, sparing a moment to look back as Flay, her father, and the little girl ran to where the other refugees were. "Let's go, Huckmon," Kira quietly said.

"Anytime, partner!" Huckmon nodded.

"Damn! Why'd they choose this moment to attack us?!" Mu growled as he got on his ship and started it up. "Mu La Flaga, taking off!" he said as he was launched out of the Archangel.

At the same time, Kira had gotten into the Strike. However, the moment he closed the cockpit, his Digivice began glowing. "What?" he blinked, before a light shot from the Digivice and into the consoles, energy dancing around them, and before his eyes, a new component seemed to form and flipped out from under one of the screens. A port that was shaped just like his Digivice.

"Huh, didn't know they could do that," Huckmon blinked. "I think you should put the Digivice there," he said.

"R-right!" Kira nodded a little hesitant but did it, all the same, the Digivice installed firmly on the console, while the Strike was equipped with the Aile pack. "Kira Yamato!" he started.

"Huckmon!" Huckmon added, joining in with his partner's habit, even if nobody could hear him.

"Strike, taking off!" they both said as the Strike was launched out of the Archangel, the phase shift activating as they flew in space, yet when it did, Miriallia rubbed her eyes. For a second there she could have sworn she saw some kind of...dinosaur appear over the Strike's image. But that was impossible.

The Duel, Buster, and Blitz flew in a triangular formation, while the Gamow was behind them. As they approached, they suddenly split apart, just as the Gamow's shots passed through where they used to be, hitting the Archangel.

"They've analyzed our evasion algorithm," Murrue grunted.

"Hiding their line of fire with those machines? That's really cute!" Mu grunt in the Moebius Zero as he opened fire on them, before focusing his shots on the Buster. The bullets hit, but the Phase Shift Armor made them ineffective.

"That's useless!" Dearka chuckled, before returning fire.

At the same time, the Strike was entering the battlefield. "Let's go, Huckmon!" Kira said.

"You got it!" Huckmon nodded, as the Strike began firing. However, their opponent was the Duel, which had a shield as well, meaning no matter how precise their shots were, they didn't have any effect, and even with the two of them together, there was no way they'd be able to shoot through the peephole on the shield.

"I'll lure the mobile suit away!" Yzak said as he returned fire, forcing the Strike to dodge. "Nicol, the legged ship is yours!"

"Understood!" Nicol said. Though inwardly he gulped a little. Considering what's been happening so far...he better not let his guard down.

As the Buster and Duel engaged their opponents, the Blitz flew towards the Archangel, dodging a few shots before activating Mirage Colloid. However, the Archangel had been ready for that, and deploying anti-beam defenses quickly used his shots to calculate his location before countering.

"That's right! This used to be yours!" Nicol grimaced slightly as he was forced to reactivate Phase Shift to defend against the anti-shrapnel missiles. "No wonder you know it's weak point!" he said, as the barrage ended and reactivated his Mirage Colloid.

"That's not good," Asher frowned as he watched the screen from the Archangel's system again. With the Blitz constantly cloaking, it'd be tough for the Archangel to defend, especially once it gets close. "Guess it's my turn then," he said, readying his Digivice.

"Ho-ho-ho, now hold on there, not so fast, young man" came a new voice...from right behind him.

"Gah!" Asher jumped in surprise. "Who's…!" he started before he saw who it was. "...there?" to his surprise, it was Jijimon. "Jijimon?! How'd you get out here?!"

"Ho-ho-ho, our scientist, Nanomon managed to find a trace of the portal you've been using to visit us. He's very interested in you, my boy. Oh, but I'm not here for old man babbling." Jijimon reached his hand into his pocket and took out several cards.

"These are?" Asher asked.

"Take these, young Asher. We know that we can't help much in this…'real world' as we call it restricts us Digimon and we can't fight in 'space' as you said. But this ship is still our home and it is normal that we wanted to help out as much as we can." Jijimon said as he handed over the cards to Asher.

Asher received those cards and look at it, his eyes widen in surprise as what those cards are, "These are...Digimon cards?! How?"

"Ho-ho-ho, Nanomon manage to take an image of your Digivice before you turned into that White Knight of yours. He could only analyze the outer structure and believed that Digivice of yours can do more than just transformation. Nanomon wanted to test the theory by using these Digimon Cards. Each of them holds an ability copied from the actual Digimon, specifically our warriors and guardians. Nanomon felt they'd most likely be compatible in combat," Jijimon explained.

"How do I use them? I don't see any slot for them to be used." Asher said as he looked around his G-Cyber Digivice.

"Ho-ho-ho, point your Digivice towards the cards," Jijimon said.

As he did so, the cards actually flew around, before the ring on his Digivice lowered, and one by one the cards 'slotted in', all of them seemingly downloading into the Digivice. "What the-?!" Asher gasped in surprise.

"Now in battle, if you ever need our help, our power is at your disposal. Please use it to protect our homes," Jijimon said.

Asher looked at his Digivice, before looking at Jijimon and nodded. "Leave it to me," he said, before facing the screen again and spinning the ring on his Digivice. Pressing the button, he lifted it up. "Let's go, Omni!"

The Archangel shook as the Blitz had finally gotten close enough and had started attacking point blank.

"Come on, come on….!" Nicol grunted. He had to be quick, or else…

A bright light appeared, blinding him before the Blitz was kicked away. "Dammit! I didn't make it!" Nicol cursed. True enough, there standing on the ship was the white mobile suit, its arms folded as it stood ready with its cape fluttering to the side, green particles spreading from it.

Growling, Nicol initiated the Mirage Colloid, vanishing from sight.

"Guess he used it after all," Asher frowned while his arm is still folded. As he did, the Digimon Cards from before appeared and circled him inside the matrix chamber. As they did, he could feel...intent coming from them. "Gotcha, let's go, guys!" Asher nodded.

"Alright, the enemy is invisible, and with the Archangel's anti-beam defenses, that means he'll come closer," he mused, before making his choice. A card floated in front of him, revealing to be Elecmon's card. "Let's go, Elecmon!" The card slotted itself into his Digivice which floated in the air.

In the real world, the Omni unfolded its arms and raised its sword, as lightning crackled from it.

"What?!" Nicol gasped. This was new.

"Sparkling...Thunder!" the voice called out from the comms, as the electricity spread like an umbrella, hitting the Blitz that had been nearby, causing Nicol to cry out in pain as his systems were affected, forcing him to drop the Mirage Colloid.

"There he is! Go, Meramon!" Asher said as Meramon's card slotted itself in.

"Burning Fist!" the voice called out from the comms as Omni's right arm was engulfed in flame before it punched the Blitz in the chest, Nicol just barely managing to activate Phase Shift before he was thrown away from the Archangel.

Everyone watching was stunned silent. "W-wow," was all Tolle could say from where he was on the Bridge, pretty much summing up what everyone else thought.

Dearka was in the middle of trying to hit the Moebius Zero when he was interrupted by the Blitz ramming into the Buster, knocking both off course.

"Dearka! Nicol!" Yzak gasped seeing his teammates, right before the Strike kicked him away. "Dammit! You'll pay for that!"

Kira meanwhile gritted his teeth, blocking the beam saber with his shield.

"This time...this time for sure we'll sink that ship!" Yzak roared.

"I won't let you…!" Kira growled. "I won't let you sink the Archangel! I won't let you hurt my friends!" he shouted, his determination reaching its peak, and as if a switch had been hit, his mind felt...clear, as in his mind's eye, he saw what looked like a jewel-like seed, which soon burst into light. Even with the overflowing emotion, he was feeling, his mind felt clearer than it had ever been, while on his console, his Digivice began to glow.

At the same time, Huckmon felt something. "This is…!" he gasped. "Kira's feelings, I can feel them. That's right. We won't let these guys have their way!" Huckmon roared as the energy became overwhelming.

(insert: Brave Heart)

Light shone from the Digivice, as it seemed to send a signal to the sky, and from the sky, a bright light shone, as particles of light, data, and energy were dispersed, followed by a stream of data flowing down like a waterfall.

Huckmon Shinka!

Huckmon seemed to spin as data and energy from the Digivice entered him, before a flash of light covered him, and when it cleared, he'd changed. He had grown larger, now easily half the size of a mobile suit, his form becoming more mature in appearance. His claws were now more developed, his scales becoming stronger and more armor like in appearance, while his mantle became larger while gaining a more...tattered appearance as if it had gone through much combat.

BaoHuckmon!

Despite his clarity of mind, Kira couldn't help but gasp in surprise at what his partner had become.

"Huckmon?" he asked, right as one of his screens showed something new. Data on the new Digimon.

BaoHuckmon. Adult level. A form of Huckmon that has gone through strict training, intensifying its sense of combat incomparably and achieving growth mentally, technically, and physically. It is a combat expert that aims for the top, continuing its training, accumulating combat experience cultivated through the battle with formidable opponents, and evolving as it battles.

"Heh, it's BaoHuckmon now," BaoHuckmon said as he grabbed hold of the system controls, pouring some of his new energy into them as he did, the Strike's energy reserves suddenly shooting back to full.

"I felt it, Kira. Your feelings, your will, they all gave me strength and allowed me to evolve to my Adult Level!" he said. "Let's go, partner! We've got a ship to protect!"

"Right!" Kira nodded, as he jetted the Strike forward. Unlike before, the performance had increased even further, allowing the Strike to completely surpass its previous limits.

"What the?!" Yzak gasped, raising his shield to block, only to get pushed back even further when the Strike's beam saber hit it. "What the heck?! Where did this power come from?!" he growled, before trying to counter with his own saber, only for the Strike to easily dodge. "What?!" he gasped, before switching to his rifle and tried to shoot the Strike, but the Strike was faster, and shot his rifle, causing it to explode.

"This battle ends now!" Kira and BaoHuckmon roared in unison, drawing the saber.

Acting quickly, Yzak raised his shield to block. However, the saber was soon enveloped in an aura that took the form of some kind of Dinosaur.

"What the?!" Everyone watching gasped at the sight, especially Asher who recognized it immediately.

"That's…! A Digimon technique?!"

Back in the fight, the energy coated the saber, before spinning like a drill.

"Teen...Blade!" Kira and BaoHuckmon roared in unison, as they struck, cutting right through the shield, and drilling through the Duel's right arm, destroying it.

"Gyaargh!" Yzak shouted as the console in front of him exploded thanks to the feedback of the damage.

"Yzak!" Dearka and Nicol shouted in alarm.

"It hurts….! It hurts!" Yzak whimpered through the communications as he clutched the right side of his face, his helmet visor having broken, and some shrapnel having embedded into his arm and side.

"Dearka! We need to fall back!" Nicol shouted as he moved to retrieve Yzak, the Strike putting some distance between them, perfectly willing to let them go.

Nodding, the Buster withdrew along with the Blitz.

With the battle won, Kira felt the clarity of mind fade away, while BaoHuckmon's form glowed, before reverting to Huckmon, the Digimon slumping over tiredly. "W-We did it…" Kira gave a tired grin.

"Yay…" Huckmon groaned, raising a paw in victory before his stomach growled.

(theme end)


	11. The Decision

Kira sighed as he got off the Strike, Huckmon currently napping in his Digivice after what happened.

"Kira!" came Sai's voice, as he saw his friends running towards him.

"Man, Kira, that was incredible! How'd you do that?" Tolle asked with a big grin.

"How I did...huh?" Kira blinked. Honestly, he remembered most of the fight, but somehow part of it felt fuzzy for some reason.

"How'd you make the Strike use that last attack? It drilled right through the Duel's shield like it was paper!" Kuzzey clarified. He had to admit, it was awesome to see, like something out of an anime.

Kira blinked, remembering parts of that. Of course, he also knew there was no way he could tell them what really happened. So with some difficulty, he lied. "Honestly...I don't know," he said. "I just...I wanted to protect the ship, I didn't want to let anyone gotten hurt and well...I guess it just...happened."

"You're kidding, right?" Mu couldn't help but chime in. He was in the middle of the fight, and he saw what happened. He knew as well as anyone that was something else, even if it was awesome.

"It's true. I really don't know how I did that," Kira lied through his teeth. He knew how he did that. He also knew he'd sound crazier than...crazier than well...Asher, if he told them. As if to confirm his statement…

"Coming through, out of the way," Asher said, walking through the hanger...with a small tower of boxes balanced on his arm. "Anybody who's free, feel free to lend a hand. The supplies always get all messed up after a fight," he added as he walked past them. Nobody bothered to comment or ask why he was carrying so many boxes in one shot.

Seeing a good chance, though… "Sure, I'll help out," Kira quickly said, as he grabbed a few boxes and helped Asher move them.

"Thanks," Asher nodded.

"Anytime," Kira said though inwardly he added, 'I owe you one for the nice timing.'

"...well, I guess we should help too. Kira DID just help save the ship again," Miriallia said, to which they nodded in agreement and joined the two.

Mu watched them go, as Murrue and Natarle came in. "Your thoughts on the matter?" Natarle asked.

"Well...it was something alright. I've never seen anything like it. What about you, chief?" Mu said, before turning to Murdoch.

"Don't know what to say, but whatever the kid did, it actually recharged the Strike's batteries. There's way more energy in here than there normally should be!" he explained.

"That is strange," Murrue nodded in agreement.

"I'm gonna take a shot in the dark here, but...do you think the kid might have...activated something? You know, like a hidden function or something in the Strike," Mu suggested.

"...hard to say," Murrue frowned.

"But it sure makes sense!" Murdoch called out. "There's a lot we don't really know about the G-Weapons. Maybe the boys down at Morgenroete installed some hidden functions in the GAT series."

"That's true…" Murrue conceded. "But we still failed an attempt to make further contact with the Omni Gundam due to the way it disappeared without giving us a chance. At this rate, I have no idea how to include it in the report."

"Well, that Mobile Suit is a big mystery. I'm starting to wonder if it was really was made by humans. You know, like aliens?" Mu's remarks made both Murrue and Murdoch sigh as they left the Lieutenant alone.

Eventually, the Archangel was able to link up with the 8th fleet, while the Montgomery and its crew were escorted away to the lunar base for repairs. At the same time, the atmosphere in the Archangel was notably brighter, as the refugees were overjoyed to know that they were able to return back to their homes on earth safely soon. As such, all of them were packing their things, ready to transfer to the Menelaos for the shuttle back to Earth.

"Well, we made it this far I guess," Asher mused as he watched from Cyber Space again. "Question is, what do I do now?" he sighed. It wasn't as if he could 'go home'. He wasn't from this world after all.

"Maybe I'll talk with a few people. Maybe that'll help clear my head."

Jacking out of the system, he took a walk around the Archangel, passing a number of refugees along the way. Many were in high spirits, clearly looking forward to the prospect of getting home. However, as he walked around, he noticed some kids who seemed...uncertain, afraid even. "Something wrong?" he asked as he got close.

The kids seemed a bit surprised at his sudden appearance, but seeing his uniform, they calmed down.

"Well…" one of them started.

"Are we really gonna be okay?" another said.

"We're already with the 8th fleet," Asher nodded reassuringly. "Don't worry, you'll all get to go home real soon."

"But what if ZAFT attacks again?" the first one asked.

Asher...stopped at that. Sad as it sounded, the kid had a point. There really wasn't anything stopping ZAFT from attacking them again. But he had to say something. "Don't worry, we'll protect you," he said...though inwardly the first image he got was Kira with the Strike rather than say...Mu with the Moebius. While he wouldn't say it out loud cause it was just plain rude, it was honestly kind of sad when you realize the Ship's best defender was a teenaged boy who really shouldn't have gotten involved with this in the first place. Especially with whatever he did to the Strike to let it use Digimon moves...however, the heck that was even possible.

"But will we be really safe?"

"We'll be alright!" A girl with long black hair holding a teddy bear spoke up, the other kids and Asher looked at her. "That white knight will definitely protect us, hasn't he protected us until now?"

Asher blinked a bit at that. Sure he'd helped them out of a few tight spots, but he hadn't done that much...right?

"Yeah, you're right. He'll send ZAFT running for sure!" one of the boys nodded in agreement, the kids' moods quickly becoming brighter.

Asher wasn't sure what to say, but he smiled and said, "Well then, you'd better go and get ready to go. Don't want to miss the ship," he said.

"Hey, Kira…can we get something to eat? I'm hungry," Huckmon grumbled, as Kira was busy working on the Moebius Zero for a change.

"We can't yet. Lieutenant La Flaga asked me to work on this even though we're with the 8th fleet already," Kira mumbled as he checked the systems.

"I don't get it," Huckmon said.

"Apparently the 8th Fleet is mostly young pilots. Lieutenant La Flaga wants to be ready just in case," he sighed. But before he could continue…

"Sorry to interrupt, but I'd like to talk to Kira," came Murrue's voice as she floated into the hangar.

"Huh?" Kira blinked, looking at her a little suspiciously.

"Please don't give me that suspicious look," Murrue said. "Though, I don't blame you," she admitted.

Shortly after the two of them were standing in front of the Strike. "I've hardly had any free time so I couldn't find the time to have a good talk with you," Murrue said. "Well, I just wanted to thank you properly."

Kira seemed surprised at that before Murrue continued.

"I put you through a great deal of hardship. I am truly grateful for what you've done," she said, giving him a bow, much to Kira's surprise. "I forced a number of things on you," Murrue continued. "And you gave us your all. I'm truly grateful."

"Hehe, hear that buddy? You're a hero," Huckmon chuckled from his spot.

Kira seemed rather surprised. "Ah...it's alright, captain," he said.

"The others may not say it, but everyone on this ship is grateful for what you've done," she said, getting up from her bow. "Given the situation, I imagine things will continue to be hectic for you even on Earth, but I wish you the best of luck," she said, extending her hand in a handshake, to which he accepted. With her piece done, she left the boy to his thoughts.

"...hey...Huckmon, do you really think it's okay for me to just walk away from all this?" Kira couldn't help but ask once Murrue was far away.

"Hm...that's a tough one. Honestly, I still think it'd be a shame to just leave like this. But in the end, it's your choice. I'll support you no matter what you choose," he said.

"Thanks, Huckmon," Kira nodded with a smile.

"Hey, what are friends for?" Huckmon grinned.

Asher landed gently on Archangel Island, the name he'd decided to give to this Island seeing as it WAS inside of the Archangel. Walking to the 'Primary Village' of this Island, he smiled a bit when he saw the Baby Digimon running around and playing in the fields. He also noticed Elecmon with a blindfold, trying to catch some of them, no doubt as part of a game, much to his amusement.

However, as he walked into the fields, he saw something out of place. Out in the corner, under a tree, was a glum-looking Tokomon. Asher was surprised to see a normally cheerful Digimon look so glum, and decided to see what was wrong. "Hello? Is something wrong?" he asked as he got closer.

"Hm? Oh, it's you…" the Tokomon said glumly.

"What's wrong? Why do you look so sad?" Asher asked.

Tokomon looked up at him and asked, "Is it true?"

"Huh?"

"Is it true we're inside some kind of ship, and if that ship gets destroyed, we'd go with it?" Tokomon said.

Asher was surprised...and honestly a little disturbed. That wasn't something a Baby should be thinking, but then...he didn't exactly know how old this one was. In the end, he decided it was best, to be honest.

"Yeah, its true," Asher said...but quickly added, "But don't worry, it'll all be okay," he said.

"Why do you say that?" Tokomon asked.

"Because we've got some strong people protecting that ship. And if push comes to shove...I'll protect this ship too," Asher said with a grin.

"Huh? How?" Tokomon asked

"Hey, Asher! Didn't notice you were here. You could say something at least." Asher turned around and saw Elecmon coming towards him.

"Hey, Elecmon. Sorry about that, didn't want to disturb your babysitting duty just now." Asher grinned.

"Oh? Tokomon, what are you doing here? Aren't you playing with the others?" Elecmon asked as he got closer to Tokomon, Elecmon picking Tokomon up and placing him on his head, though the baby Digimon still looked glum.

"Well, that little one was worrying about this island inside of the Archangel and the worst case scenario if it's destroyed," Asher said as he scratched his temple, not really sure if it was a good idea to mention that just now.

"Huh? Why are you thinking about such stupid things? Kids like you shouldn't worry about things like that," Elecmon cut Tokomon off before the Baby Digimon tried to say anything. "Besides, we have someone here who can protect us in our place," Elecmon said as he looked at Asher.

Asher nodded in agreement and even gave the Tokomon a thumbs up. "Leave it to me. ZAFT isn't getting its hands on this ship if I've got anything to say about it," he said with a reassuring grin.

"...I know I said I'd protect the ship, but can I really do that? This is a warship, so…" Asher muttered as he walked through the halls, having jacked out after playing with the kids for a bit. "No, stop thinking like that," he chided himself. Fortunately for his nerves, he got a convenient distraction.

"Hey Asher, are you on break right now?" Kira waved at Asher.

"Hi there, Kira! Yeah, since the stuff has been organized and the repairs are almost done. I'm practically free for now until the old man calls for me. How about you? Heard you helped out with the Lieutenant's Moebius Zero earlier." Asher said

"Oh, I just did some adjustments, the maintenance crew will handle the rest later. Did you have your lunch already? I didn't see you in the mess hall. I wanted to ask if we could eat together, but I couldn't find you anywhere." Kira said although he had fed Huckmon some bread earlier without anyone noticing but both of them heard a loud rumbling noise coming from Asher's stomach.

"Speaking of that, I never had a chance to grab a bite. Hahahahaha! Do you wanna come? You know, have a drink or something. It's been awhile since we hung out together. What do you say?" Asher said.

Kira chuckled at the shorter boy's reaction, "Sure, I don't mind. I have some free time for now."

"Cool! Let's get going, I'm starving already."

Meanwhile, in the Archangel briefing hall, Murrue followed by Natarle and Mu were standing in front of the door which later opened up revealing a middle-aged man with short dark blonde hair and mustache. He had a stern expression on his face befitting his rank of Admiral, as shown by his uniform. The three Archangel's officer saluted the arriving man, and the man saluted them as well.

"Glad you made it, Lieutenant Ramius and Lieutenant La Flaga, as well as Ensign Badgiruel." the man said

"Thank you for picking us up, Admiral Halberton." Murrue thanked,

"At ease all of you, I'm fully aware that it must have been very hard to get here without support," Halberton said as he went over the wooden table and took his seat. "Now then, shall we proceed with your report?"

"Yes, sir!" All three of them saluted.

Asher was currently in the mess hall together with Kira and his friends, except for Flay as she was currently with her father according to Sai. Right now, the group was excited about some reason.

"Guess we've finally linked up to the 8th fleet," Asher mused.

"Yeah, and they said that all our families are accounted for," Kuzzey nodded.

"That's great news," Miriallia smiled.

"Yeah...great…" Asher said half-heartedly. He already knew there was no way they could contact his parents.

"Something wrong Asher?" Kira asked. He couldn't understand why Asher didn't seem happy to hear the news.

"It's...complicated," Asher sighed, wondering how he was supposed to explain that his parents are from a different world. "At any rate, we're not out of the woods yet. Knowing ZAFT, I bet they'll try something before this is over," Asher quickly changed the topic.

"You sure? I mean, we're with the 8th fleet right now," Tolle said.

"Somehow I don't think that'll stop them," Asher sighed.

"What makes you say that?" Kuzzey asked

"Think about it, Kuzzey. They have 4 stolen G-weapons and a good number of mobile suits at their disposal, while the 8th fleet only has several battleships, the Moebius Zero and the Strike, the only Mobile suit. If I was ZAFT's commanding officer, this is the perfect opportunity to wipe us out." Asher replied. "No offense to the 8th fleet, but other than the Strike and Lt. La Flaga's Moebius Zero, the 8th fleet doesn't have any means of intercepting those GINN and G-weapons ZAFT will throw at us later. The difference of firepower between us with the 8th Fleet and ZAFT is pretty huge," Asher continued. "Worse come to worse, the Archangel might survive the assault later as there's a high probability that the Archangel will be placed at the rear, being the newest weapon for the Earth Alliance. I'm sure the higher-ups or the Admiral of this fleet won't risk it in the front lines where it could get destroyed. The ZAFT forces might consider this kind of possibility and take the chance to wipe out the 8th fleet for their future plan." Asher said in a detective-like thinking gesture.

"But if the 8th fleet has no means of winning, why didn't ZAFT attack them in the first place?" Sai asked.

"Think about it, Sai," Asher said as he removed his gesture while looking as Sai. "The ZAFT's military strength in space so far only consists of the GINN and CGUE. While they may have mobile suits, their numbers are small compared to the Earth Alliance, and ZAFT isn't stupid enough to waste manpower knowing the probability that they will suffer some losses on their side as well is pretty high. Not to mention the fact that Naturals outnumber Coordinators, so there's that too," Asher replied

"So, they waited until…" Miriallia gasped later realizing something, Asher nodded at her.

"Correct, the G-weapons at Heliopolis. The G-weapons are the main key to ZAFT's assault forces. For example the Artemis destruction, which is why all this time ZAFT activity in space has been mostly silent until they managed to sniff out about the Earth Alliance's new advance Mobile suits in Heliopolis and steal the G-weapons. A G-weapon can be considered the equivalent of 10 GINN in terms of ability and/or firepower for easy math since the technology and performance are beyond ZAFT's current technology," Asher explained.

"I-I can't believe this," Kira said, while in his Digivice Huckmon was speechless as well.

"If it's true, why would they place The Archangel in the rear? I mean, we can handle them right?" Tolle asked

"I'm getting to that, Tolle," Asher said as he turned towards the group. " Aside from the stolen G-weapon's overall combat abilities, ZAFT will place them on the front line every single time to get more battle data so that they can develop even higher performance mobile suits than the Strike as their trump card to overthrow the Earth Alliance. When that happens, unless the Earth Alliance manages to build their own mobile suits that Naturals can actually pilot a Mobile Suits, the EA won't stand a chance. Which is why the Archangel's survival, and the Strike for that matter, is very crucial for the Earth Alliance as it's their last means of developing a countermeasure." Asher said as he crossed his arms, letting his words sink in. When he saw the horrified looks in their eyes, he nodded. "That's right, we're literally sitting in Earth's last hope, something ZAFT is VERY keen on snuffing out." Asher finished.

The group was speechless after hearing what Asher told them, they never thought that the there was something bigger happening.

"Asher, how did you figure this all out?" Kira asked, even he, a Coordinator, hadn't thought things out that deeply. Heck, he didn't even think there was some kind of hidden agenda behind all this.

"Hm? Oh, just a simple deduction based on what happened before, gathering enough information, comparing facts, and think all of the possibilities based on all the facts and information. It's pretty normal stuff for a detective, like solving a jigsaw puzzle," Asher said, thinking about his own investigation on the matter that he conducted in secret

"You're a detective?" Tolle asked in surprised

"Nah, my mom works as one. I'm always around or eavesdropping whenever a client arrives at her office and sometimes I even sneaked out and followed her around when I was a little kid until now, so I learned a thing or two." Asher shrugged.

The slack-jawed looks on their faces were almost comical after he finished explaining. 'Seriously, what kind of lifestyle has this guy been living all this time?'

Kira was the first to snap out of it. "So, what do we do now?" he sighed.

"The same thing we've always been doing up till now," Asher shrugged. "Don't tell this to the captain or Lt. La Flaga, this is just my own deduction and I don't want to add unnecessary pressure on them."

"But why?" Miriallia asked

"They're soldiers, I'm sure they already thought these possibilities through. If not the Archangel would have been sunk a long time ago." Asher said as he got up, "Now then, I had better get back to the hangar and see if there's anything to do. Later folks!" Asher waved his hand and float away back to the hangar, leaving the group alone.

"What do you guys think?" Miriallia spoke up first.

"I'm not sure, I mean...damn, I thought Asher was just a normal teenagers like us, never thought he'd be able to think like an adult to that extent. Kinda surprised me there." Tolle said

"Yeah, I mean we always see his...errr...crazy sides all the time. This is the first I see him this serious aside from when we were packing supplies like we did before at the debris belt." Kuzzey said

"Kira, what would you do?" Sai asked

"I don't know, but I think it's best to keep this amongst us. Sai, could you keep this from Flay as well?" Kira asked

"Sure, it's best for her not to add any more worries while her father just barely survived. Like that guy said, it's only his deduction. Although, I won't deny the things he said actually made sense." Sai said.

"I guess so," Kira said. With that, the group were dispersed away leaving Kira alone, his mind is in deep thought about what Asher said early as he mindlessly wandering in Archangel without knowing where he should go.

"Something bothering you bud?" Huckmon asked from the Digivice in Kira's pocket. Kira searched through his pocket and took out his Digivice with Huckmon's image displayed on the screen. "It's about what Asher said earlier, about how the G-weapons will provide battle data for ZAFT to develop higher performance mobile suits." Kira sigh

"So you're wondering if it's a good idea to keep disabling them or if it'd be better to just shoot them down to prevent that, right?" Huckmon asked and it seems that he guessed correctly after seeing his partner expression turned grim.

"But if I do that-"

"If you shoot them down, it makes you no different than those soldiers? Or you don't want to hurt your childhood friend?" Huckmon beat him to it.

"Huckmon, what should I do?" Kira asked, his expression near anguished as both options were not appealing in the slightest.

"I can't answer that for you, but it's best if you find out for yourself, Kira. Try to think back the first reason you pilot the mobile suit and think through all these, I'm sure it will show some light to you." Huckmon said

Kira nodded although deep down he was still having second thoughts about all this fighting. Was it a good thing for him to keep fighting like how he always did? Or would he be able to bring himself to take another life? As it was, he still had nightmares of the battle of Heliopolis, of how he cleaved a GINN in two at the cockpit. Even now, the phantom images of the pilot's death as it probably happened still plagued his dreams at times.

"Hey, no worries. Take it slow, bud. No matter what you choose, know that I'll always be by your side. That's what partners are for after all." Huckmon grinned reassuringly.

Kira blinked, before smiling slightly. "Thanks, Huckmon," he nodded appreciatively.

Inside of The Archangel's hangar, Asher was currently re-checking supplies since he had nothing else to do. He wondered if it had been a good idea to tell them his deduction based on the info he'd gathered in secret so far like that. Of course, even if it was a mistake, it was too late now. All he could do was hope that none of Kira's group mentioned anything about it, as right now he didn't want to deal with unnecessary issues and preferred to keep a low profile.

'Still, what am I supposed to do? Part of me wants to get on the shuttle and find a way home, but even if I went to Earth, I have nowhere else to go. Besides, if my deduction is true, transforming into Omni Gundam might be a big risk in facing new weapons, and when that time comes will I still able to protect Archangel and the Digimon? I doubt I can upgrade my Gundam in my current situation. Not to mention that was more Itsuki's specialty...' Asher deeply frown on his thoughts.

Sighing a little, Asher glanced at the shuttle where the refugees are grouping together, eager to board. He shook his head knowing that even if he boarded that shuttle, it won't solve this problem and he would feel bad leaving the Digimon alone after he said he would protect the ship.

Sighing again, he decided that the only real option he had at the moment was to stay at Archangel, but if he did he needed to come up with a valid reason for staying. Telling them that he was the Omni Gundam and the Digimon was out of a question for now.

"Argh! This is frustrating!" Asher scrambled his hair in annoyance.

"What are you doing being noisy around here?" Asher slightly jumped his shoulder and he glanced at saw Murdoch holding a piece of paper.

"N-Nothing! Just thinking of something!" Asher quickly answered. Hopefully, the Chief Engineer won't pry into it.

Murdoch just shrugged. "Well, here you go," Murdoch said as he handed over the piece of paper, Asher took it. "What is this?"

"Discharge papers," Murdoch said. "The other kids got their Discharge Papers earlier, seeing as it's technically a crime for civilians to take part in combat or military activities," he explained. "So basically we've had you all recognized as volunteer soldiers to avoid any issues," he sighed.

Asher just silently looked at the discharge papers, before wordlessly taking them. "Thanks," he said softly, though he was still looking at the papers intently.

"Well, at least you can go back home safely. It's kinda late for me to say this but thanks a lot for helping out all this time. When the war is over maybe I can pay you a visit someday hahaha!" Murdoch said as he playfully messing with Asher's head making his hair fairly messy.

"Yeah...maybe…" Ashe sighed as Murdoch walked away. As if Murdoch would ever be able to find his home as he thought sadly. Asher left the hangar and decided to go to the mess hall to think this through after he arrived he sat at the corner staring at the window, showing endless void of scenery.

'What should I do? Tell the truth, I really don't want to involve in this stupid war any longer than necessary…but I made a promise to Tokomon and Elecmon I'll be protecting them, I can't just leave them alone, can I?' Asher turned his gaze on his table, looking down while thinking through his experience in this world, how did he escapHeliopolisis, how he turned into his Gundam and all of it until now.

'Never leave something you started half finished. Unless you are willing to see something through to the end, you will only be able to do it half-heartedly, my son.' Asher suddenly remembered his father's words a long time ago.

[flashback, 6 years ago]

Asher as a little boy sat on a couch impatiently beside a customer service counter in the building where his father worked. He swung his legs in boredom while waiting because he couldn't wait until business hours ended as tonight his parents were going to celebrate his 10th birthday and he was really looking forward to it, especially with his father as he always came home late and couldn't spend much time with him.

After waited for a while he saw his father's white hair and suit walking down the hall talking with someone. Feeling happy to see his father, the little boy jumped off from his couch and quickly headed to his father.

"Dad!"

"Hm? Asher? What are you doing here?" Alex asked in surprise as he received a hug from his son. The man beside him seemed confused, not sure if he wanted to call for security or not.

"I was waiting for you! So we can go home together, hehehe." Asher grinned happily, unaware that his father gulped slightly when he realized he'd been a little TOO caught up in his work.

"What's wrong dad?" Asher innocently asks his father as he tilts his head.

"Eh erm, sorry son. I have a meeting in a moment, I...don't think I can come home early tonight." Alex said as he scratched the back of his hair. However, it did not escape him to see that his son was quivering with his head down that no doubt he had upset him.

Alex sighed in defeat and turned toward his colleague beside him. "Sorry, please tell them that the meeting will be continued tomorrow and I'll apologize for the inconvenience at this hour."

"B-But Director! No offense, but it will give them the impression that you're irresponsible-"

"Then they will say it in front of me during tomorrow's meeting and tell them those idiots called Gunpla Mafia won't last much longer. If they have anything to complain about, save it for tomorrow, am I clear?" Alex said, his colleague just nodded his head, Alex patted his shoulder, "With this, you can spend some time with your wife and your son, right Takeshi?" Alex smiled.

The man called Takeshi Iori blinked several times and he sighed as well, "Y-Yes sir! Thank you very much, I will inform the branch leader about this. Oh and have a good night, sir!" with that, Takeshi ran off.

Alex turned towards his son with a genuine smile on his face, "Now then, shall we go home, Asher?"

"B-But dad, is it really ok to ditch your work like that? It sounds so important." Asher said he didn't want to cause his father any more trouble as it is. Suddenly he was lifted up by his father until he was sitting on his shoulder, giving him a good view.

"Hm, well daddy might be in trouble tomorrow. Hahahaha!" Alex said as he went heading towards car park area for his car.

"T-Then you should head back! I-I-"

"Don't worry, son. Whatever happens tomorrow it will be my responsibility," Alex tried to assure his son, but Asher wasn't completely convinced.

"But, dad said before that we must be responsible for what we're doing, isn't it?" Asher asked.

"Hm…...I guess I did say something like... 'Never leave something you started half finished. Unless you are willing to see something through to the end, you will only be able to do it half-heartedly, my son.' Isn't it?" Alex asked while the reply he got is vigorous nodded cutely after he put him down to unlock his car.

"Even so, I won't abandon my responsibilities as a father to make my son happy. A parent making their own children upset is worse than being fired from a job." Alex said, "So then, let's head home. I had a surprise present ready for your birthday." Alex said as both he and his son got in the car.

"Really?!" Asher asked with eyes sparkling

"Yes, is your friend Itsuki-kun coming too?" Alex asked

"Nu-uh, he said he doesn't want to disturb our family time even though I asked him." Asher pouted.

"Hahaha, don't worry. Next year tell him we can celebrate together. The more the merrier." Ales said as he started his car and sped off to their home.

[Present time]

"Heh, and that was when I got my cat, Pete. Yeah, I'm not gonna leave things I've started half-assed, dad. I'm going to see this to the end and I'll promise to return home." Asher said as he raised both of his arms and squeezed this fist. "I swear on these gloves." with that Asher left the mess hall only to bump into someone, after he saw who had he bumped into, his face instantly pale.

Meanwhile, outside out the 8th fleet's firing range, several ZAFT destroyer class space warships had gathered near Rau's Vesallius.

"Commander Creuset, the Ziegler and Gamow have joined us." One of the Vesallius' crew members reported in.

"The 8th fleet haven't found us yet, have they?" Rau asked

"Not yet, since most of the fleet has descended to quite a low point. It's doubtful that they'll be able to find us," the captain of the ship replied.

"I see, still I thought that the legged ship would be going to the lunar headquarters…" Rau said as he floated away to the briefing table together with the ship captain. "But it looks like they're landing it on Earth."

"The legged ship's destination appears to be Alaska." The captain said

Rau cupped his own chin, " I'll like to sink the legged ship while it's still out here in our backyard. What do you think, Captain?"

"I also thought the same, Commander." The captain nodded, "The Ziegler has six GINNs at their disposal, while we have 5 machines including the Aegis and the Gamow can send out the Buster and Blitz." The captain said

"What is the condition of the Duel and Yzak?" Rau asked

"Yes, sir! The Duel has just finished repairs and new upgrades, but the pilot is still not in any condition to sortie yet." Captain replied

"I see." Rau turned his gaze back to the briefing table, "I'd say it's about time...for the famous admiral to retire from the scene." Rau made a small smirk. Rau had straightened himself 'Too bad, we missed the chance to test out the puppet. Guess it's still too early. Well, the proper curtain has not been raised yet'

Meanwhile, back at the 8th fleet, Halberton sighed as he sat down on his seat, his forces ready for battle at a moment's notice. Despite that, he couldn't help but find himself thinking back on the conversations he had with the two volunteers. For the first one, Kira Yamato, he admired the boy for his reason for fighting. He merely wanted to protect those he cared for, which was why he hoped the boy could eventually return to a normal life. As for the other one…

He frowned when he remembered his conversation with that boy, Asher Valentine. He didn't know why, but he felt something was...off about the boy. What it was though...he couldn't say.

[Flashback]

"I-I apologized for bumping into you, sir!" Asher quickly saluted, not in a mood to deal with any problems right now.

"At ease, young one. No one is getting hurt here. How about you?" Admiral Halberton asked.

"Eh-ah, yes I'm fine." Asher nodded, while the Admiral did the same.

"You must be one of the young volunteers I've been heard, yes?" Admiral Halberton asked.

"Y-Yes, sir! Names Asher Valentine! Sir!" Asher said, maintaining his salute.

"Hahaha, at ease young man. No need for formalities here." Admiral Halberton said as he looked around, "Are you alone here? Not with your friends?"

"Oh, I….kinda need some time alone but I'm fine now!" Asher said as he fist pumped, which earned a slightly surprised look from the admiral, but he quickly regained his composure. Asher realized what he had done and quickly stood properly.

"Well, I'm just here to say thank you for your hard work for helping the Archangel and the crew. I heard that you're in charge of managing supplies. It's rare to see someone as young as you doing chores like that." Admiral Halberton said

"Yes, well...it's just one of my...personal problems when it comes to messy things," Asher said as he looks away.

"Does it involve how you accidentally opened the air-lock?" After the Admiral said that he saw Asher sweat a lot. "No worries, after all, it was an accident. I assume you've never worked with this kind of machinery until now, correct?"

Asher seemed surprised but quickly nodded. Halberton nodded as well as a moment of silence descended, but the whole time he'd been keeping an eye on the boy. Truth be told, he'd looked into the volunteers, and when he came across Asher...he'd found something odd. Namely, he didn't find anything. No records, no information whatsoever on the boy. It was as if he didn't exist. This, of course, led to two possibilities. The first was that for some reason his data had been hidden for some reason. The other was that he wasn't who he appeared to be. However, as it was, there was literally nothing to imply that he was anything other than he claimed...more or less…

A moment passed, and Halberton decided he'd try something else. "If you don't mind, what do you think about all this? About this war in general?" he asked.

"Eh? Er...I'm not sure if I should-"

"I insist, feel free to express it. I would like to hear your honest opinion."

Asher was silent for a moment before he spoke after taking a deep breath. "With all due respect sir, this is not a war. Its true war is a state of armed conflict between societies, either for lack of resource or lands or eliminating the potential threat of their neighboring country or colonization. But this so-called war, what would either side gain? Complete annihilation of either Naturals or Coordinators? What for? Revenge for Junius Seven? For a 'pure and blue earth'? For me, this is not war, it's just global scale genocide where both sides don't agree with each other because of genetics! No offense, sir. But I'll say whoever instigated this kind of propaganda is very immature. No, scratch that, they're worse! This whole thing is practically nothing more than a child's tantrum!"

Despite himself, Halberton couldn't stop the look of surprise that came across his face at the boy's response. This is the first time he heard from someone's view about this conflict as….bold as this boy had. Even though what he said was true, but before he could ask further he was contacted by his ship, informing him that he was needed back, thus forcing him to cut the conversation short.

[flashback end]

He sighed again at the memory, but for all it was worth, it seemed whoever Asher was, he didn't seem to be in league with any of the factions of the war. He highly doubted any Blue Cosmos members would have spoken like that, and anyone who thought he might have been a ZAFT agent...couldn't deny the fact that the blood tests made it clear that he was a Natural. "Could he be an Orb agent? No, that boy is way too blunt for it."

The Admiral stood up from his seat, glancing at the space from his window. "Whoever he is, I wish I could keep an eye on him." After that, he went back to his seat, and saw on his table were the picture of Asher and Omni Gundam stacking together. "Report said that he was found unconscious in the Archangel after the disappearance of the unknown mobile suit, the 'Omni Gundam' as the pilot called it. And no one saw how he got in the Archangel in the first place. That mobile suit is unknown to us and it doesn't seem like it allies itself with ZAFT, while I doubt Orb would be able to produce this Mobile Suit in secret as the G-weapons are their first project."

Admiral Halberton picked up those photo's, "My gut's been telling me that they're related somehow. If so, how could he manage to hide his Mobile Suit inside the Archangel? Who is he align with? Or are we dealing something completely unknown from our understanding in this era?"

"Admiral! Several ZAFT destroyer class ships have been detected ahead, they're entering our range!" a voice coming from his comm said.

"I'm on my way," Admiral said as he pressed the button and replied. "Well, it was only a matter of time before ZAFT would come to attack. If I survive, I hope I can solve the mystery of that boy and the Omni Gundam." Admiral said as he quickly exited leaving the photos of Asher and the Omni Gundam floating in the air.


	12. The Atmospheric battle

The battle was quickly underway as ZAFT and the 8th fleet clashed, both sides exchanging fire in a fierce battle. Despite their efforts, it was clear that the 8th fleet was at a disadvantage as their battleships were sunk one after another by a combination of the many GINNs and the stolen G-weapons. Even the Moebius units deployed by the 8th fleet stood little chance against them.

To make matters worse, the Archangel had been ordered to position itself at the rear of the fleet in order to make its escape into Earth's atmosphere, headed for the Earth Alliance's JOSH-A base in Alaska, but at the cost of making it nearly impossible for them to render aid to the rest of the fleet. Despite orders, Murrue had been very much against this plan, knowing that for all their firepower, the 8th fleet likely wouldn't be able to stall for all that much time, and more importantly, she hated the idea that they were possibly sacrificing her mentor for their survival. A feeling that only grew stronger as she saw more and more ships destroyed. 'At this rate, the 8th fleet will be completely wiped out before we enter the Earth's orbit!' Murrue clenched her fist in her seat, as they were ordered not to launch the Strike and Moebius Zero and focus on atmospheric entry.

Suddenly, a communication line came up and on the other end was Lt. La Flaga on the screen with his helmet on. "Captain, let me launch!"

"But our orders-" Before Murrue could finish her sentence she was cut off by Mu. "At this rate, the 8th fleet will be wiped out before we can even begin entering Earth orbit! I can at least stall those GINNs that are breaking through," Mu said, as even with his Moebius Zero he won't stand a chance against those G-weapons with their Phase Shift Armor.

"Let me launch as well!" A familiar voice was heard in the bridge which caught all of them by surprise until a monitor showing Kira with his helmet on appeared.

"Kira-kun? Why?" Murrue can't help but ask, even Natarle was surprised but maintained a calm expression.

"At this rate, the Archangel won't be able to survive and neither will the refugees. I-I made a promise that I'll keep them safe until they enter Earth!" Kira said.

"What he said, Captain," another voice was heard and the crew turned back and saw the volunteers: Tolle, Miriallia, Sai and Kuzzey in their uniforms, each of them taking their seat and began their duty.

"You kids, why?" Murrue asked in surprise.

"We can't leave Kira alone," Tolle said, the rest of them nodded their heads in agreement.

"Oi, don't you ever forget about me!" another voice was heard too. Everyone in the bridge including Kira and Mu was surprised to hear that familiar voice as the monitor showed Asher in his uniform.

"Asher? Why are you here?!" Kira asked

"Hey, there's no way I'd leave knowing you guys are here. Well, I'm not very keen about this dumb war but….I'm not one to leave things half finished. I'll see this whole thing through until the end," Asher said seriously, much to their surprise. "Besides, the old man would be lost and in tears without me," Asher said until he yelps in pain after received a fist slam from none other than Murdoch. "Ouch! What was that for, old man?!"

"Shut up! There's no way I'll cry for a stupid brat like you!" Murdoch said

"Oh yeah?! Who's the one holding a box of tissues and used them all with a bohoo sound in the corner after giving me the discharge paper, huh?!" Asher retaliated back, both of them kept on arguing until some of the crew members and the volunteers were laughing at the scene, even Kira and Mu, while Murrue chuckled softly, though Natarle sighed at their antics.

"Murdoch, prepare the Strike and Moebius Zero for launch! We'll intercept any ZAFT forces as best as we can and resume atmospheric entry! We cannot allow the 8th fleet be wiped out like this!" Murrue back to her duty self-giving a stern order.

Murdoch and Asher stopped their bickering and both saluted "Yes, ma'am!" Murdoch turned off the communication. "Get your ass moving! We need to prep them for launch!" Murdoch said as he turns over but saw Asher had already gone ahead of him. "Heh, kids these days," Murdoch said as he quickly rushed to his workstation preparing their pilots' machines for taking off.

Meanwhile, in The Vesalius. Rau was standing before the ZAFT Reds, except for Yzak due to the injury he suffered before from the Strike. Currently, he was briefing them on their next mission.

"As you are all aware, we will soon begin our assault. Our enemy is the 8th fleet of the Earth Alliance ahead of us, but our primary objective is to sink the legged ship and capture the Strike if possible before they enter the atmosphere. For the success of the operation, speed is key. We need to quickly break through the 8th fleet. To do this, each G-weapon will be accompanied by 2 GINN, we will use 3 teams. Athrun, you will lead a forward force. Your objective is to breakthrough the 8th fleets and sinks the legged ship. Dearka, your team will be providing cover fire & create a path for Athrun to advance. Nicol, you will get the first hit. Your Blitz's Mirage Colloid will be a good chance to catch them on guard. Once you land a hit, your GINNs will come to your aid and at the same time, Dearka will carve a path for Athrun. You'll be later joining up with Athrun to support him. Is that clear?" Rau explained.

"Yes sir!" the gathered soldiers saluted. However…

"Commander!" came Yzak's voice as he entered the room, dressed in his uniform, but with an addition of bandages covering the right side of his face. "Please allow me to join in this assault as well!" he said.

"Yzak?!" Athrun said in surprise.

"Wasn't he supposed to be resting? His injuries were rather severe," Kotemon nodded in agreement, remembering what the doctor had told them.

Rau frowned when he said that. "Are you certain? We were told you are still recovering from your injuries."

"I'm fine. This is nothing so serious that I can't fight!" Yzak said.

"...very well," Rau said.

"Commander!" Athrun said in alarm, surprised at the decision.

"Yzak, as one of the pilots of the G-Weapons is an invaluable asset to us. Furthermore, the repairs and upgrade to the Duel have already been completed. It should not be any problem," Rau explained calmly.

"Thank you, sir!" Yzak nodded.

"However, I do have a condition. While your suit can help with the battle, do not, under any circumstance, engage that mobile suit, Omni Gundam," Rau said sternly.

Yzak frowned at that but nodded. "Yes, sir…"

"Good. Now everyone sortie. We will begin the assault immediately," Rau ordered.

"Yes, sir!"

Asher had finished checking the immediate condition of the machines. He'd finally gotten the hang of these space-age computers to NOT accidentally trigger a self-destruct or something. So far everything was in the green, meaning that they were ready for the worst. "Well, bring it on ZAFT," he said emptily. He didn't doubt for a second that ZAFT would come after them again. They were just that persistent. But...he still wondered what he should do. This wasn't as simple as it normally was. Situation aside, they were attempting to enter Earth, which in itself was no easy task, not to mention they'd be in the middle of battle. The question was, should he intervene if things got dicey? And if so, how best to do it? Fortunately, before he could get too lost in his thoughts, he was interrupted by the sound of the Strike's cockpit opening. He couldn't help but notice Kira seemed to like working with the cockpit closed lately. "Everything okay up there?" Asher asked.

Kira blinked, having not realized he had been there. "Yeah, everything is working well with the Strike," he nodded before a thought crossed his mind. "Hey, Asher...mind if I ask you something?"

"Huh? Oh, sure," Asher nodded.

"Well...why did you stay really? I mean, you've said it yourself. This war...it's stupid, and it's not like you have to stay, so...why didn't you go back to Earth?" he asked.

"Hm…" Asher crossed his arm while he closes his eyes, wondering if it was a good idea to tell him the truth? Crossing that thought, he had to think a good lie without being suspicious. "Well, it's true that this war is dumb and all, and frankly I've even considered leaving this place for good." Asher nodded himself while his eye still remains closed.

"Then why-"

"Because I've been taught that no matter what, never leave things done half-assed from what you've started." Asher opened his eyes looking at Kira sternly. "Like it or not, I've already involved in this war. That's why I'll do anything I can and see through this until the end." Asher said resolutely. "Besides, let's say I got my own reason to stay and it's a secret, my friend." Asher grinned.

Hearing that, Kira couldn't help but be taken aback. It was times like this that made it hard to believe Asher was his age. Then again, since when was Asher ever normal? He sometimes acted like he was crazy, but other times like this, he showed a maturity that was not what you'd expect from someone his age. Despite himself, he couldn't help but admire Asher for being able to show that kind of resolve even though he had even less reason to be here than him and his friends.

"Anyway, looks like we're done here," Asher said. "I say we grab some-" he didn't get to finish as the alarms went off. "Never mind. ZAFT always seems to show up when I want to grab a snack…" Asher grumbled. "Be careful out there! You and Mu come back in one piece, got that!"

"Right!" Kira nodded, earning a thumbs up from Asher before he ran to where the non-combatant members of the crew gathered during battle.

'Besides, I got nowhere to go even if I head to Earth….this isn't my homeworld.' Asher sadly thought.

The battle began on a fierce note as ZAFT launched its attack, having sent the bulk of its forces in one go. The 8th Fleet tried to fight back with its own forces, but the stolen G-weapons quickly made short work of any fighters that crossed their path. Yzak, in particular, was rather vicious, making full use of his suit's new Assault Shroud to sink ship after ship. "Where is he? Where is the Strike?!" Yzak growled as he surveyed the battlefield, itching to get settle the score.

Many ships of the 8th fleet tried to fight back, but against ZAFT's mobile suits, they were quickly being decimated. All the while, the Archangel remained at the back of the fleet, their orders clear, that they had to get to Earth at all costs. However, inside the bridge, all of the crew members could only watch in horror as the 8th fleet was slowly but surely being decimated. Likewise, Asher was watching from inside cyberspace with his arm crossed. And he wasn't alone.

"Why aren't we helping them?" Elecmon asked. "They're getting slaughtered!"

"We can't. This ship has been ordered to enter Earth at all costs. The Admiral fully intends to die if he has to…" Asher sighed. He knew the orders, but that didn't mean he had to like them. This was evident by how his hands were clenched, something Elecmon noticed.

"You should help them," Elecmon said. "You clearly don't like sitting around doing nothing."

"Not that simple," Asher sighed. "I honestly don't want anything to do with this stupid war, and if I keep butting in like this, it could cause more problems in the future. The last thing I need is ZAFT to start gunning for me," he explained.

"Is that what you really think?" Elecmon asked

Asher went silent for a while and sighed. "No, Elecmon! I mean, yes! If I'm out there I might save a few, but I can't save all of them. I'm no god." Asher shook his head.

"Nobody's perfect," Elecmon said simply. "Just cause you can't save all of them doesn't mean you shouldn't even try."

Asher didn't know what to say to that. "But I…"

"Maybe you should cool off on that paranoia of yours first and chill before saying stuff," came a ghastly voice from behind them. Normally a voice like that would have sent chills down people's spines...if they didn't already know who it belonged to from the lousy puns...which made both of them just groan. Turning around, they saw the form of a demon-like Digimon that was white as snow, IceDevimon. Normally people would be on guard with something like that particular type of Digimon, but this one was one of the residents of the island, and despite appearances, actually quite nice. Asher would probably never forget the image of a demon making the snow cones for the Baby Digimon.

"IceDevimon is correct, you seem to be stressed about something and it's making you doubt yourself. Is something wrong?" came another voice, this one sounding feminine. Turning a bit they saw a large snowman-like Digimon, Yukidarumon. Like Elecmon, Yukidarumon helped take care of the Baby Digimon from time to time, provided she wasn't busy gathering supplies and food for the town.

"It's...complicated…" Asher sighed. "Sorry, but it's not something I can share easily and it's not about trust issues. It's just….complicated," he said. He wasn't sure if it's a good idea to tell them that he's from the world where Digimon and Gundam are fictional stories now as it will cause even more problems for him later. Although, he knew that he couldn't hide it forever.

"I see, we won't pry. But is it ok for you to be here instead of helping out? We know that you have your own reason, but is it really okay? I believe that you have the power to change things. Change them for the better." Yukidarumon said

'Well, she's not wrong…..but I know almost nothing about this world. Heck, I barely know the difference between a Gundam and those...mass production things. If only Itsuki were here...he'd know exactly what we need to do to change things...' Asher mentally lamented. He was starting to wish he'd paid more attention to the times Itsuki got into explaining the Gundam shows...provided he could make sense of Itsuki's rambling at times.

"Come on, Asher! This is not like you!" Asher looked down to see Elecmon staring at him as he stood up on his hind legs. "I mean...Well, I don't really know much about you but I know you're not a coward that hides away from something like this!"

Asher didn't say anything. He continued to look at the 'screens' watching as fighters were gunned down. Yes, this war was stupid. Heck, it was probably the dumbest war he'd ever heard of, but in the end, Elecmon was right about one thing. He hated just standing here doing nothing.

Asher kneeled down until he was Elecmon's height and pat his head as he grins. Elecmon was, of course, surprised at the sudden action and tried to move away. "Thanks, Elecmon, and you two as well," Asher stood up. "You're right, it's not like me at all to stay at the backstage," Asher said as he took out his Digivice. He stares at it for a moment and closed his eyes. "I've decided," Asher said as he opened his eyes and raised his Digivice. "Let's go, Omni Gundam! No matter what circumstances, no matter what kind of hardship we must endure, let us face this ordeal until the very end!" Asher called out as he spun the ring, "Asher Valentine! Omni Gundam, ready for deployment!" The bright light engulfed him making him a silhouette of light with green eyes as he flies towards the sky.

The three Digimon look at the spot Asher had been silently for a moment, until…."Well, that was a very cool demonstration. It sent shivers through my data. Heheheh." IceDevimon once again with his cold puns.

"Stop making lame puns, IceDevimon," Elecmon grumbled as he facepalms while Yukidarumon just sighed wondered how she gets to know this Digimon in the first place. IceDevimon just laughed.

"Oh no! We have forgotten to give him our ability cards," Yukidarumon just realized.

"Chill, I already took care of that without him noticing. When he needs to cool off, he will know how freezing awesome Ice Digimon are." IceDevimon laughed again.

"Sometimes, I wonder how the heck you can make cold-related puns in every sentence." Elecmon can't help but ask.

"Because I'm cool, that's why. Shall I teach you? Even though, electricity is not my domain." IceDevimon offered.

"No way!" Elecmon snapped, killing that idea before it got too far.

"Thank Fanglomon..." Yukidarumon sighed.

The battle was going badly for the 8th fleet. Tired of watching, the Archangel, despite orders, had decided to help, having launched the Moebius Zero and the Strike to aid them.

The Strike was engaging with the Aegis and the Duel, while the Moebius Zero trying intercept as much GINN as he can.

Inside the Archangel bridge, Murrue had received a transmission from the Admiral demanding why they let Strike and Moebius Zero to be deployed despite orders.

"My apologies for disobeying orders, but if this keeps up, the Archangel won't be able to enter the Earth safely either. And….as a soldier, I cannot just sit here and watch our allies getting killed like this! I'll accept court martial for disobeying orders if necessary!" Murrue said

"So that is your resolve? Good, then that resolve-" Another voice is heard on the transmission, the crew was surprised at where it came from until a bright light shots out from the Archangel heading towards where the Strike location, the orb of light dissipated until reveal a white knight mobile suit, as it tore through several GINN, cutting off their limbs and weapons, before reaching and kicking the Duel away and shooting the Aegis with its arm cannon, forcing the Aegis to dodge. "I will answer to that!"

Kira, Mu and the Archangel's crew were surprised at the sudden appearance of the Omni Gundam standing in front of the Strike with its cape fluttered while the green particles emit underneath it.

[insert: Royal knights theme from Cyber Sleuth]

"I am the Omni Gundam! By my own will and the resolve of the Archangel, this battle...I will not allow it to drag on for any longer!" Omni Gundam said as it deploys its sword.

"Why, you! Don't get so cocky, you damn Natural!" Yzak charged towards the Omni Gundam despite his Commander's orders not to engage, his beam saber drawn. However, Omni spun around, and cut the beam saber off at the hilt, before planting its foot into the Duel, sending it flying away.

"To quote a swordsman who's name I forgot...let's dance!" he said, before dashing forward, forcing the Duel into...well...a duel.

At the same time, the Strike took the chance to back away, gaining some distance. "How are you holding up, Huckmon?" Kira asked his partner.

"I'm good. Dealing with two opponents isn't easy," he admitted, before re-stabilizing the systems. "But I think we can manage this now. If only I could evolve again. THAT would have evened the playing field." Huckmon said. Despite them doing it once, they hadn't figured out how to do it again. So as it was, they had to make do. It was a good thing the Digimon in the Aegis didn't seem to be helping.

"Athrun-sama, are you feeling well? I apologize that I'm unable to utilize my skills fully in this environment, " Kotemon said inside of the Aegis' monitor cockpit.

"Don't let it bother you Kotemon, I know it's your first time fighting in space. Also...with Yzak charging in like that, I don't blame you." Athrun said though he sighed at the end. Yzak's fixation on the Strike was not making teamwork easy.

"But is it ok to leave your comrade to deal with the Omni Gundam as it is called?" Kotemon asked. He wasn't too worried about it, but Kotemon knew that the Duel had no chance of winning with the current mental state of its pilot.

"...Leave him be, for now. We have a mission to complete. Also, this might be good chance for Yzak to cool his head. Hopefully..." Athrun said he knew that the Omni Gundam won't kill if it could avoid it. The fact the number of men they'd lost to it was still a big fat zero confirmed that much. Though he hopes that after taking on the Omni Gundam alone (and getting his butt kicked), Yzak might finally cool that hot-tempered personality somehow.

"Very well. But now that we're alone…" Kotemon tensed, adding his support to the systems again, and helping the fight. "I won't hold back," he said, as the Aegis took on a more swordsman-like stance despite having arm-mounted beam sabers.

Kira noticed that, and realized the Digimon inside the Aegis was now actively supporting it, so with that in mind, he readied his own weapons. The two Mobile Suits stared at each other for a moment, before charging forward, blades quickly locking. The Aegis' combat movements quickly put the Strike on the defensive, but the Strike quickly countered with faster movements and control. Overall the battle was relatively equal.

The Duel on the other hand… "Damn you!" Yzak growled...and earned a punch to the face of his machine.

"Why?! Why can't I shoot you down?! I am a ZAFT red elite! I shouldn't have this much trouble with a Natural!" Yzak growled as he kept firing his beam rifle towards the Omni Gundam. However, his shots either missed when the Omni dodged the attacks or were sliced apart by its sword before he found himself on the receiving end of a shoulder tackle from the Omni.

"I can't believe I'm hearing those words in the middle of a battle. No wonder my first impression of you is a reckless fool." Asher shook his head.

"What did you say?!" Yzak retort back as the Duel regains its balance.

"You heard me, a reckless fool! You come into a fight acting like you're supposed to win like it's some God-given truth! Only a complete moron would act like that! Wake up! This isn't some game! Anyone who thinks they will win because of something as stupid as 'I'm a Coordinator' and 'You are just a Natural' is just asking to be shot down and killed! War isn't that simple, you idiot!"

"I-Idiot?!" Yzak growled.

"Yeah, a big idiot!" Asher said as he dashed towards Duel who fired its beam rifle. "The idiots who don't realize how dumb this war is, how it will affect the innocent people, how foolish that they are that they don't even realize that both sides will gain nothing from this genocide! This kind of foolishness, I will personally end it!" Omni Gundam said as it charged towards the Duel while dodging the shots fired, once it got closer to the Duel, the Omni Gundam spins its body in anti-clockwise and stretch its right leg to deliver a roundhouse kick to the Duel's head, separating it from the body, before turning around, arm cannon at the ready. "Garuru Cannon!" he shouted as the beam of ice hit the Duel, freezing it, and disrupting its systems.

[Royal Knights Theme from Cyber Sleuth ends]

Yzak growled as he tried to get the Duel to respond...but got nothing. "Damn it! Damn it! DAMN IT!" he shouted, hitting the controls several times, but still didn't get any response. "No! It can't end like this! I won't die like this!" Eventually, he stopped, having realized nothing was working. However, he didn't notice the one screen hit with static for a moment. Outside, the Duel remained seemingly lifeless, but just as the Omni Gundam was about to leave it be, it started moving slowly.

"What the?" Asher blinked, before dodging a beam shot. The Duel began to fire wildly, hitting friend and foe alike. "Have you lost your mind?!" Asher growled, but the Duel's thrusters ignited, making it fly in a random flight pattern, firing its weapons all over the battlefield, plunging it into further chaos. However, what nobody could hear was inside of the Duel, Yzak was frantically trying to get his suit under control, yet it was pointless as the systems didn't respond, leaving him trapped inside of an out of control suit with no way to contact any of his allies, nor any way to escape.

"Yzak? What the hell are you doing?!" Dearka shouted as he narrowly avoided getting shot. However, he got no response.

"Something's wrong! The Duel's not responding to anything!" Nicol shouted as he was forced to disengage from the ship he was attacked due to a stray shot damaging his Trikeros.

"Yzak!" Athrun shouted as he disengaged from the Strike who backed off as well, both avoiding the wild volleys of lasers.

At the same time, the Vesalius was trying to contact the Duel but was not getting anything. In fact, the systems were showing that the Duel was offline. Rau frowned at that. 'What in the world are you thinking?' he frowned. Looking at the situation, the Duel was ruining the entire operation, possibly even more so than the Omni Gundam. "All units, stop the Duel immediately! Do whatever you must!" he ordered.

"But Commander-!" Athrun said in alarm.

"You have your orders!" Rau said simply.

"...yes, sir," the three ZAFT reds nodded, none of them happy with that.

"We have to stop him somehow," Nicol said. He didn't like Yzak all that much, but he wasn't about to watch him die either.

"Leave it to me. If I can take out his weapons, he won't be able to cause any more trouble!" Dearka said as he aimed his weapons carefully. His aim was true, as he managed to destroy the shoulder mounted launcher on the Duel, but all that did was attract its 'attention', evident by how it started barreling into his direct, literally taking its shots until it rammed into him, sending him flying back. It was about to aim and shoot its rifle at Buster's chest but stopped when the rifle was destroyed, the Blitz reappearing not far away.

"Yzak! Wake up! Stop it!" Nicol shouted but was ignored as the Duel drew its beam saber and charged at him, though Athrun intervened, blocking the blade with his own. "Yzak! What happened?!" Athrun shouted, but the Duel ignored him and kicked him away. It was about to strike the Blitz but was stopped when the other GINN opened fire on it, though the bullets didn't seem to have any notable effect.

Rau clicked his tongue in annoyance at the sight of the out of control Mobile Suit, something that fortunately nobody noticed due to everyone scrambling to deal with the situation.

Meanwhile, the Aegis had managed to grab onto the Duel to try and stop it. "Yzak! Respond!" Athrun tried, but the Duel didn't respond, instead it kicking the Aegis away. "Dammit!" Athrun growled as he stabilized his machine.

"Athrun-sama, if we don't do something quick, we really will have to destroy the Duel!" Kotemon said.

"I know!" Athrun shot back. "Dammit! What should we do?!" he growled. He joined ZAFT to protect his people, protect his friend. After all this time, what the heck was the point of it all if he couldn't even save a friend that was right in front of him?! "Dammit!" his fist made contact with the console, right next to where his Digivice was connected. When he did, he noticed the Digivice glowing softly. "Huh?"

"That light…!" Kotemon's eyes widened. "Athrun-sama! Grab hold of the Digivice! If the legends are true, it should respond to you!"

Athrun seemed surprised at that but nodded. "Alright." He was willing to try anything at this point. The moment he touched the Digivice, light shone from its screen.

[Insert: Brave Heart]

Light shone from the Digivice, as it seemed to send a signal to the sky, and from the sky, a bright light shone, as particles of light, data, and energy were dispersed, followed by a stream of data flowing down like a waterfall.

Kotemon Shinka!

Kotemon seemed to spin as data and energy from the Digivice entered him, before a flash of light covered him, and when it cleared, he'd changed. He had grown larger, now at least twice the size of an adult human. Gone was his kendo armor, revealing a large muscular humanoid lizard with dark green skin, wearing tribal looking pants, armbands (which had blades on them), and a headband. Strapped to his back were two massive swords, one smaller than the other and shaped like a proper sword, while the larger one looked almost as large as its wielder and looked like it could cleave through metal like it was paper.

Dinohyumon!

To say Athrun was flabbergasted would be an understatement. "K-Kotemon?" he asked, even when a screen appeared on one of the consoles with data on the new Digimon.

Dinohyumon. Dragon Man Digimon. Adult Level. It is said to be a descendant of ancient dragons, inheriting their power. It wields the Akinakes Sword, allowing it to cut through even the toughest of materials.

"Its Dinohyumon now, Athrun-Sama," Dinohyumon nodded. "Now enough talk. Let's help your friend!"

"Right!" Athrun nodded, as Dinohyumon connected with the Aegis. Before his eyes, the Aegis was at full power again, and his specs had increased far beyond anything he'd seen before. "Let's go, Dinohyumon!" With that, the Aegis surged forward. The Duel tried kicking it away, but the Aegis didn't budge. Drawing its Beam Saber, it tried again, but again, the Aegis didn't even flinch.

Athrun couldn't help but marvel at what the Aegis could do now. With Dinohyumon helping, the Aegis' Phase Shift was even able to block beam weapons now, let alone solid weapons. "Athrun-sama, I know it's probably obvious, but I don't think the Duel is going to respond to reason. We need to disable it!"

"Alright," Athrun nodded. He didn't like it, but this was their only option. "What do you have in mind?"

"My special move," Dinohyumon said as he unhooked the two swords on his back. Outside, the Aegis ignited its arm-mounted beam sabers. "Akinakes!" both Athrun and Dinohyumon shouted as they charged at the Duel, an aura forming around the two beam sabers, forming an image of Dinohyumon's weapons. The blades flashed, and the Aegis passed the Duel...right before the Duel's arms were cut off.

[Brave heart theme ends]

After Athrun manage to disable the Duel by losing both of its arm leaving the lifeless Duel immobile, inside Aegis system, Dinohyumon had reverted back to Kotemon after using up most of his strength. "Kotemon, are you alright?" Athrun asks as he worried about his partner.

"I-I'm fine, Athrun-sama. Just a little tired, but I can still fight." Kotemon said as it stands up. Kotemon suddenly felt a sudden chill and noticed something strange happened on the Duel that suddenly jerking madly until some portal appeared in front of the Duel's cockpit. "Athrun-sama, look out!" Kotemon shouted as he hurriedly took control of the Aegis to move away, Athrun unable to react soon find the Aegis move away from the Duel on its own but something appeared from the portal and suddenly the Aegis loses its head as it backed away. What surprised everyone is that a claw-like arm suddenly appeared from the portal is the reason the Aegis losses its head.

"What the hell?" Nicol said and suddenly he could hear Yzak's voice from their comms.

"Hello? Can anyone hear me?! Answer me, anybody!"

"Yzak! What the hell was that earlier?! We almost got killed by you!" Dearka asked.

"It wasn't me! The Duel suddenly moved on its own, I can't control it!" Yzak said

"Ha? What are you-" Before Dearka could finish, the red elites can hear Yzak suddenly scream, "Oi, Yzak! What wrong?! Respond!"

Meanwhile back to the lifeless Duel, it suddenly jerked until another pair of claws emerged from the portal, each grabbing the sides of the portal had enlarged it. The head of a red Kuwagata beetle later emerged as it screeched and soon it completely freed itself from Duel and flew towards the stolen G-weapons.

"What the hell is that?!" Dearka asked

"Be careful it's coming for us!" Nicol said

"What is that thing?!" Athrun gasped in alarm.

"It's Kuwagamon, Athrun-sama! But, this is abnormal! Kuwagamon isn't supposed to be that big!" Kotemon said.

The Kuwagamon screeched as it approaches them. Dearka fired a few missiles on it, but the Kuwagamon dodged most of them, and the few that did impact it only left a small bruise. Dearka tried to ready his long range rifle but the Kuwagamon was too fast, forcing him to evade, just narrowly avoiding being sliced in two at the cost of the weapons and Buster's left leg, which was cut apart.

However, the Kuwagamon soon set its attention on the 8th fleet and flew right towards it. The fleet started to fire at the monster but same as Dearka's case, it dodged and tanked several shots until it reached one of the battleships and cut apart the bridge during its flight, causing the ship to explode. Kuwagamon didn't pay attention to it as it flew to the next ship, this time it went under of the ship and immediately flew up causing a hull breach underneath the ship until it hit the bridge as well, the crew on the bridge were floating in the space until the explosion evaporated them all.

Everyone in the vicinity were shocked, surprised, and confused as fear started to grow within them as they saw the bug-like monster destroy 2 of the destroyer class warships in a matter of seconds. Panic started to occur throughout the 8th fleet. Despite that, they ordered the fighters to engage it, yet the Kuwagamon used it's arm claw and destroyed them like it was swatting flies. One of the fighters soon decided to retreat out of fear, but the Kuwagamon chased after it and grabbed it with its pincer. The pilot screamed in fear as he saw his cockpit getting crushed until Kuwagamon closed it's pincer making the fighter split into two and explode, Kuwagamon letting out a screech at its explosion. Unheeding of the damage it was causing, the berserk Digimon proceeded to tear through the armies on both sides, destroying GINN and Fighters alike, and even damaging several ships.

"What is that monster? A new ZAFT weapon?" Tolle asked.

"Captain, if this keeps up, the Archangel will be in danger!" Natarle said, as true enough, the Kuwagamon had broken through the 8th Fleet. Literally. It was now headed for the Archangel, to which they fired several volleys at it, but it evaded, and managed to hit the Archangel, its claws cutting into some of the hulls before a barrage from the Moebius Zero managed to drive it away for now.

Murrue clenched her fist as the ship stabilized from the hit. Fortunately, their shots had at least altered the monster's course enough that they didn't sustain too much damage. As it was she was still having a hard time deciding what to do. Should they stay and try to help fight off this monster with the 8th fleet? Or should they continue as planned and enter Earth to get to the base in Alaska?

Before she could make a decision, they received a transmission from The Menelaos. Murrue pressed a button and the monitor showed Admiral Halberton, "Captain Murrue, why are you still here?!"

"But Admiral-"

"Did you forget your orders, Captain Murrue?! You must head to Alaska before that monster reaches you. We will hold our ground to buy time, you must hurry!" Admiral Halberton said.

"Admiral, if you do that-"

"This is an order! We have released the civilian shuttle. Call back Strike and Moebius Zero to Archangel and begin the atmospheric entry while we still hold." Admiral Halberton said.

Murrue lowered her head, it was visible that her body was shaking and her fist clench. "Understood, call back the Strike and the Moebius Zero! We will begin atmospheric entry!" Murrue ordered while her head remains low.

"May God be with you, Captain Murrue!" Admiral Halberton said as he gave his salute and the transmission was cut.

"Admiral!" Murrue called out as she lifts her head, her tears begin leaving her eyes knowing that her mentor was going to be sacrificed.

"The Moebius Zero has landed on Archangel, The Strike is on its way!" Miriallia reported.

Meanwhile back with The Strike, Kira was scared. After witnessing the monstrosity of that thing, he was understandably shaken to the core. Huckmon said that it was a Digimon called Kuwagamon, the same Digimon he heard from Huckmon's story about his friend losing someone to it.

He wasn't sure if he and Huckmon could beat that thing, but he was on the way to Archangel while the Kuwagamon continued its path of destruction. Soon, Kuwagamon turned its gaze on the Strike heading towards the Archangel, but also at the same time saw a shuttle deported from The Menelaos. Kuwagamon flew straight towards the Strike, which alarmed Kira. As Kira turned around to try to intercept it, the Kuwagamon change its course and it's heading towards the civilian shuttle. The same shuttle Miriallia had told him Flay and her Father was in.

"No! Stop! Leave that shuttle alone!" Kira said as it chases Kuwagamon but the Strike can't keep up with it and he can't afford to shoot with its rifle, "No, I won't let it happen! I won't let you harm that shuttle!" Kira shouted as his Digivice begin to shine, and Huckmon felt a great amount of energy flow into him.

Huckmon shinka…! Baohuckmon!

Thanks to Huckmon's evolution, the Strike received a great boost, making its thruster fired off powerful until Kuwagamon facing the Strike directly. "I won't let you!" Kira threw aside his beam rifle and drew his beam saber.

"BaoHuckmon!"

"Got it!"

The beam saber was engulfed with an aura before forming a drill-like attack. "Teen Blade!" both Kira and BaoHuckmon shouted as The Strike charged right into the Kuwagamon. Instead of hitting Kuwagamon as planned, it actually twisted out of the way of the blade and caught the Strike's arm in its pincers, cutting and ripping the arm off.

"Gwah!" Kira and Baohuckmon shouted as the backlash of the damage caused the systems to malfunction a bit. When they got to their senses, they were just in time to see the Kuwagamon fly past them and heading towards the shuttle full of civilians.

Inside the shuttle, the terrified occupants saw the gigantic insect rush towards them. Parents held their children, civilians cowered, and all in all, everyone was seeing their life flash before their eyes.

"STOP!" Kira shouted as he tried to chase the Kuwagamon, but he was too late. The Kuwagamon had already covered the distance and had opened its pincer, ready to crush the shuttle into scrap metal. At that moment, something flew right past the Strike and Kira noticed that it had a trail of green particles behind it.

"That's far enough!" a voice was heard over the open channel, as Kuwagamon was suddenly tackled by the Omni Gundam, pushing it away from the civilian shuttle. Acting quickly, he readied his arm cannon and fired. "Garuru Cannon!" he shouted as Kuwagamon was hit with the blast of cold energy, covering it in ice, slowing it down, but not stopping it completely. It was only a matter of time before it shook off the ice, but as it was enough to help the shuttle get some distance.

"Hurry! Use this chance to escape!" the Omni Gundam said as it looked at the shuttle.

"ZAFT, hurry and withdraw your forces from this place immediately!" The red elites and any remaining ZAFT forces were surprised to hear their enemy so boldly telling them to retreat.

Noticing their lack of reaction, Asher sighed in exasperation inside his matrix. "Are you seriously thinking of continuing your operation at a time like this? If you care about your remaining comrades, get yourselves and the Duel out of here before this thing makes mincemeat out of you!" the Omni Gundam said. At the same time, Asher saw the Strike heading towards him. "Stay back, Strike! You're in no condition to fight that thing!"

"B-But-"

"Have you forgotten something important? Look at the Archangel now!" the Omni Gundam said as it pointed its sword at the Archangel, the Strike obliged and looked at the Archangel which was on course to enter Earth's orbit...and had sustained some damage from Kuwagamon's attack. "If you die here, who will protect your friends on that ship?"

Kira was speechless and was fighting in his mind if it was the right thing to do to leave the Archangel alone or leave Omni Gundam alone against that monster. "What are you waiting for?! Hurry up and get back to the Archangel and head to Earth." Omni Gundam said as he pushed the Strike away, Kira looked at the Omni Gundam for a moment before heading back to the Archangel.

"Admiral Halberton! Do you read me? If yes, order your fleet to withdraw immediately. It's too dangerous to remain here." Omni Gundam said while the Menelaos had received a transmission from the mysterious mobile suit.

"What are you saying? You have no authority to-" Before Admiral Halberton finished, Omni Gundam had interrupted him.

"Stop talking nonsense! You of all people should know this is not something you can handle normally. Don't waste your life and your men on something like this! Don't throw away your life that easily!" Omni Gundam shouted.

Admiral Halberton looked away and growled, it's true that they can't do anything about ZAFT let alone that monster, but that didn't stop him from feeling frustration in the knowledge that they couldn't do anything but wait for their deaths at this rate. "Order the rest of our fleet to withdraw from the battle zone! Hurry!" Admiral Halberton gave the order and the crew immediately do as he ordered.

'Those word to the Duel, and this bold way of talking, could it be that boy?' Halberton thought. Could it be that the pilot of the Omni Gundam...could he actually be that Valentine boy? Certainly, the pilot seemed to have the same views regarding the war as that boy. That aside, the way he warned them against fighting this monster... 'Does it mean, he knows something about the monster? What exactly are we dealing with?'

Asher saw that the 8th fleet had begun retreating their forces, "Now that takes care of them, how am I supposed to deal with this problem now?" Asher said as he readied to face the incoming Kuwagamon. Asher readied his Garuru Cannon and fired several shots at it, although some shots missed and a few hit the target but Kuwagamon didn't flinch at it.

"Tch!" Asher kept firing until he was forced to dodge away from the Kuwagamon's pincer attack, keeping his distance from it and continued to fire his Garuru Cannon.

"Something's not right," Tolle said

"What do you mean?" Miriallia asked.

"Doesn't that guy always use his sword at times like this? I mean since it can cut through Phase Shift armor, it should be no problem with that monster, right?" Tolle wondered.

"But, getting close to that thing is dangerous, isn't it? Especially those giant pincers on its mouth." Mirrialia said

Kira suddenly entered the bridge, "What is the situation?!" Kira asked

"Kira?! Are you alright?" Mirrialia asked

"I'm fine, how's the situation outside?"Kira asked.

"That Omni Gundam is fighting it right now, but it seems to be maintaining its distance away from that thing," Mirrialia said

"I guess, but do you think he can beat that thing?" Tolle asked.

Meanwhile, inside the Omni Gundam's matrix chamber, Asher had a different thought. "This doesn't add up. I've never seen a Kuwagamon as big as a Mobile Suits size, and it's way too ferocious. Normal ones don't literally attack everything in sight. It's like something is controlling it or something?"

"Asher, can you hear me?" a voice was heard inside his matrix chamber, Asher then saw a monitor showing a robotic looking Digimon with a glass dome on its head, inside seemed to be some sort of machinery that might have functioned as a brain for it. The left eye of the Digimon was exposed, revealing an eyeball while the right was covered with yellow robotic optics.

"I am Nanomon, can you hear me, boy?" A voice was heard via the transmission inside of Asher's matrix chamber.

Meanwhile at the Archangel, "Eh? What is this?" Miriallia saw something weird on her monitor, she types her keyboard to check and was surprised by what she found. "Captain, I've detected some sort of transmission coming from the Archangel to the Omni Gundam!"

"What? Who is trying to communicate with that mobile suit?" Natarle asked

"I can't pinpoint the identity, but the location….. it's coming from inside the Archangel's system?!" Miriallia shouted in disbelief.

"What? That's impossible! Did you really check carefully?" Natarle asked as well.

"I did! The signal came from inside of the Archangel!" Miriallia said

"Hurry and find the origin point of the transmission! And tell the rest of the engineering crew to find anyone suspicious! We might have a hacker inside of the Archangel!" Murrue ordered she wasn't exactly in the mood to deal something like this in this situation, especially that insect kind of monster will attack them sooner or later.

"Well, although I'm sure you already know about the battle cards from Jijimon. Now back to the topic, can you see anything different about that Kuwagamon?" Nanomon asked

"Erm...aside from the abnormally large size and seemingly being more ferocious than normal, nothing unusual. I'm trying to find some clues here but I'm kind of tied up." Asher answered as he dodged Kuwagamon's attempt to catch him with its pincer.

"Hm, that is indeed weird. According to the scanner, I found the brainwave emitted from Kuwagamon seems different than normal in my database. It's like something is controlling it, can you detect any suspicious object?" Nanomon asked.

"I didn't see anything, isn't it possible that someone using mind control power on Kuwagamon before this?" Asher remembered that Devimon and Ebemon had brainwashing abilities, but he wasn't sure if there's some visible symptoms or anything.

"No, that will be impossible. I doubt you humans would be able to mind control Digimon. Our brainwaves are more complex than your simple minds can decipher, even if you had been able to calculate the Digimon's logarithm, the formulas, etc" Nanomon said, to which Asher sighed at Nanomon that he had just said that humans are stupid unintentionally, also this Nanomon sound like a self-proclaimed genius that underestimates normal people kind of type from his first impression based on the way Nanomon talked.

"Anyway, the reading indicates that the problem is inside of Kuwagamon's frame data. So, I doubt that any Digimon with brainwashing abilities is in control of the Kuwagamon, at least not from far away. So, have you found anything on Kuwagamon's body?" Nanomon asked

"I did, but there's nothing unusual that stands out!" Asher said as he kept circling around Kuwagamon looking for anything suspicious but nothing.

"Hm, in that case, it could be inside of Kuwagamon's data frame. That will be bad if it's the Digicore. Seems like we're out time, no choice but I suggest that it will be best to delete the Kuwagamon and put it out of its misery." Nanomon said without any emotion

"I'll refuse that kind of option!" Asher loudly shouted...over the open channel, which made everyone including the ZAFT forces, the 8th fleet and the Archangel wince from hearing that loud voice. They weren't able to hear what he said after the mobile suit engaged the monster, but suddenly hearing that yell had startled them a little.

"There has to be a way to save it, Nanomon! I refuse to delete Kuwagamon out of convenience just like that!" Asher glared at Nanomon. However the Digimon remained stoic, "Then how are you supposed to stop it? Do you have any plan?"

"None, but I won't give up that easily. I will find a way to free Kuwagamon from the mind control without deleting it!" Asher said as he charges forward towards Kuwagamon.

"Idiot! What are you doing?! It's risky to charge at a Kuwagamon head on like this!" Nanomon said.

"Wuoooo!" Asher let out his war cry as he charged right towards the widened pincer of Kuwagamon, preparing to tear the Omni Gundam in half.

The people were shocked to see the suicidal act of the Omni Gundam as it charged headlong towards the monster. Inside the Archangel, Miriallia looked away and closed her eyes with her palm as she doesn't want to witness the seemingly imminent 'death' of the Omni Gundam.

However, what happened was unexpected. As they made an impact, the people gasped in shock and couldn't believe what they were seeing. Miriallia was curious about what happened, she removed her palm from her eyes and tried to see what is going on until she gasped in surprise as well.

They saw that the Omni Gundam was holding off the pincer that was going to tear him up with its arms. "I can't believe it! He caught those pincers!" Tolle said in shocked.

"What is he trying to do?" Kira couldn't help but ask. He was also very much shocked by how...unbelievable the Omni Gundam's actions were. He had thought that the Omni Gundam had no chance of winning based on how strong that monster was.

"No idea, Kira. But he better deletes that Kuwagamon or else who knows how much destruction it can cause!" Huckmon said.

Meanwhile back to the ZAFT reds, "Oi oi, is that guy crazy or what? I mean, nobody in their right mind would catch those pincers like that!" Dearka said bewildered by the scene in front of him.

"Impressive, it's rare to see a Kuwagamon's pincers being caught like that. Even back in the Digital World, not all Digimon are able to catch them like this." Kotemon comment.

"I can't believe it…" Athrun said

"Just how strong is he?" Nicol asked

"I hate to admit, but that guy might able to kill that monster," Yzak said.

"Yzak….did you just...compliment an enemy? Are you alright? Do you need emergency medical attention?" Dearka can't help but ask.

"Shut up! I'm not complimenting him, it's just a possibility!" Yzak shouted at Dearka, "I mean, that guy's strength is not something to be beaten that easily since I fought him and all." Yzak said as he looked away, feeling ashamed of himself for being powerless against the Omni Gundam. He vowed that he will best the Omni Gundam and the Strike next time. 'Just you wait, someday I will defeat you both!'

Asher continued to hold onto the pincers that were trying to cut him in half. "Can you hear me? I know you're probably suffering right now, but if you can hear me, try to fight off what's controlling you! You're not some mindless puppet!" Asher shouted.

"What are you doing?" Nanomon asked inside of Asher's Matrix chamber.

"Trying to talk to it!" Asher replied

"That's beyond illogical! Do you think a mere speech can overwrite a brainwashing process?!" Nanomon said in disbelief.

"Even so, I'll try whatever method to save it! Delete is out of the question!" Asher said, but the Kuwagamon tried to grab the Omni Gundam with its arms. Asher quickly let it go and fired his Garuru cannon to temporary flinch the Kuwagamon to gain some distance.

"Why? Why are you taking this far? You're not on friendly terms with this Kuwagamon or anything. So why?" Nanomon asked.

Asher went silent a while, "Because it doesn't feel right to delete Kuwagamon like this." as he stopped firing. Leaving Kuwagamon shaking itself from the frozen spot.

"Huh?" Nanomon blinked his organic right eye in confusion.

"Knowing the fact that it is being controlled as you said, killing it won't justify anything! There has to be a way to figure out the source! That's why, this Kuwagamon is not the perpetrator, it's a victim waiting to be saved!" Asher said

Nanomon was speechless, this human boy had just said something illogical for his circuits. But he was curious about how he can save Kuwagamon. This is a good opportunity to study this unique human boy, and if there's really a method to save brainwashed Digimon, that would save him the trouble of figuring the countermeasure.

However, Nanomon noticed something weird happening to Asher in Matrix chamber. His eyes suddenly undergoing changes, a stream of data was ascending on his iris, his eyes from dark blue to brightly glow blue. "W-What is happening?" Nanomon asked

"Huh?" Asher noticed something different of his vision, it suddenly changed his visual of Kuwagamon into a transparent 3d diagram just like before during Heliopolis. Inside of its head, he saw a dark square like object that looked like a computer chip. "N-Nanomon! You said that Kuwagamon strange behavior was inside of it right?!" Asher asked

"Yeah, according to my scanner. Why?" Nanomon said

"Then I found our source of the problem! There's a black looking chip inside of Kuwagamon head if there's any way to remove it we can save Kuwagamon!. Asher said

"Hm, but we need to bring it into the system for surgery, and I doubt that Kuwagamon will come along peacefully. Not to mention that we don't have any means to contain it, let alone trying to smuggle it inside this ship's system." Nanomon said

[Insert Digimon dub movie: Omnimon birth instrument]

"There has to be away! I will definitely save Kuwagamon!" Asher said in his determination to save the berserk Digimon. "Huh?" Asher then noticed his Digivice suddenly shine brightly inside his chamber, in a second it shot its light towards Asher. Asher can see the flow of data was moving through his entire body, both symbols on his gloves shining brightly while on the outside Omni Gundam suddenly started shining brightly, Kuwagamon trying to shield itself from the blinding light, the rest of the military also doing the same.

The light soon died out, and Asher looked at his hands wondering what had happened just now. "What was that light?" He moved his hand showing his personal gloves, both symbols suddenly glowed brighter and died out in a short amount of time.

He didn't know what had just happened, but he's going to trust his instinct. 'That light must be related to this situation. Please, lend me the strength to save Kuwagamon!' Asher moved his left arm, deploying Grey Sword, but the runes on the sword glowed differently from before, it was green in color previously, but now it was shining with a bright light and formed an aura of light on the blade itself. The Omni Gundam soon charged towards Kuwagamon, the berserk Digimon also doing the same, this time to try to cut the Omni Gundam into pieces.

"He's doing it again!" Dearka said

"No, this time the sword is drawn! Is he going to kill it?" Nicol asked

"Will he succeed?" Athrun asked.

"Don't lose! I won't be able to settle the score if that guy dies!" Yzak shouted

"Go! Beat that monster up, Omni Gundam!" Tolle cheered in the Archangel.

"Good luck!" Mirrialia said

"Go!" The Archangel crew cheered on, except for Murrue and Natarle who watched silently.

"Will he be able to do it?!" Mu asked.

"Go, Omni Gundam!" Kira shouted.

The Omni Gundam and Kuwagamon soon faced each other head-on. Time seemed to slow, as Asher pulled back his arm, while the Kuwagamon opened its pincers. The two soon clashed, a powerful shockwave of energy occurring from the ensuing collision, as a bright light shone forth, forcing everyone to cover their eyes or risk being blinded. When it died down, the crew of the Archangel, the ZAFT forces, and the 8th fleet were shocked at what they were seeing.

[Digimon dub movie: Omnimon birth instrument theme end]

Omni Gundam's blade had pierced the head of Kuwagamon while the pincers were just a few milliliters from cutting the Omni Gundam in half. Kuwagamon painfully screeched, while it couldn't move, stuck in its position.

Asher felt sorry for the Kuwagamon as he saw the dark chip inside its head had dispersed into countless particles and disappeared. The boy sighed in relief at that and slowly retracted the sword and miraculously there wasn't a wound on the spot. However, his eyes soon widened in surprise as Kuwagamon's body began to slowly disappear as well.

"No! No! No! This wasn't supposed to happen!" Asher said as he tried to grab on to Kuwagamon. The spectators were confused at the scene they were witnessing.

"Why?! Why is this happening?! Why is Kuwagamon's body starting to disappear?!" Asher shouted at himself, he had no idea why this is happening.

"Asher, calm down," Nanomon said.

"As if I can calm down! Why is Kuwagamon being deleted?! What was that freaking light for?!" Asher said as his eyes began tearing up. "I didn't mean to delete it!"

"This is why humans can be such emotional fools," Nanomon sighed. "Take a good look at Kuwagamon."

Asher did so and saw that Kuwagamon had completely disappeared but his enhanced vision saw something shiny within the dispersed data. "That is?" Asher asked

"That is Kuwagamon's Digicore. Simply put, think of it as a Digimon's soul. The body frame may have been deleted but the Digicore is still unharmed and with enough time and data, Kuwagamon may be revived." Nanomon said

"R-Really?!" Asher said

"Of course, I'm a scientist," Nanomon said

The Digicore of the Kuwagamon floated harmlessly, Omni Gundam reaching its right hand towards the core, which suddenly flew towards it and entered the torso of the Omni Gundam. Inside of the Matrix chamber, Asher tried to hold the Digicore with his both hand but it still floated on his palm. "It's kind of warm."

"Thank you…." Asher heard a voice from the Digicore itself before it flew towards his Digivice, disappearing into it. Asher's jaw dropped a little. "This is the first time I heard a Kuwagamon that can talk."

"Well, that means that Kuwagamon is not ordinary. It's not rare but there are some normally feral Digimon that are intelligent enough to speak." Nanomon said

"Well, glad that's over now. It's been a long time since I cried like this." Asher sighed as he wiped his tears.

"Oh? When was that?" Nanomon asked

"Well…." Asher wondering if it would be a good idea to let Nanomon know. Suddenly he saw the background of Nanomon's screen suddenly turning red.

"Uh-oh, we got a problem. And by we, I mean us and the ship." Nanomon said

"W-What happened?" Asher asked

"The cooling system of the Archangel malfunctioned when they started their atmospheric entry. It was likely damaged when Kuwagamon attacked the ship. According to the information, you humans hold about this, we'll be cooked alive if this keeps up." Nanomon said

"WHAT?!" Asher screamed, "Can't you do something Nanomon?!"

"Well, I need some extra hands. I can't repair the physical parts since it's impossible for me to appear in the human world right now, but I can repair the circuits inside of the system if it's still intact." Nanomon said

"Then please hurry! I'll do what I can for my part!" Asher said as he flew towards the Archangel.

"Already on it, and don't be ridiculous! You barely have any strength left after that battle!" Nanomon said

"Still, there's no way that I'll let Archangel be destroyed like this. I promised that I'll protect the Digimon, the people inside and find a way to send you guys back to the Digital World!" Asher said.

"Hmph, you really are too emotional human. I'll cut the transmission, and good luck to you." Nanomon said as he cut the transmission. He turned around. "Well, let's get going. Who knows how long that human boy can last."

"Leave it to us!" Elecmon said while standing between Yukidarumon and IceDevimon.

"I'll do everything I can to help." Yukidarumon nodded her head.

"I'll make sure that everyone will chill from my wonderful cold." IceDevimon chuckled,

"Er….you kinda sound like you wanna make them catch a cold, IceDevimon," Elecmon said as he sweatdrop.

"I did?" IceDevimon asked with a questioned look.

"Whatever, we need to hurry. Follow me." Nanomon type something on his computer and the portal opened up. "Now then, let's begin the Operation Ship Frost," Nanomon said as he entered the portal with his Digimon friends. 'Don't die, human boy. I still want to study more about you. The study of your miracles.'

Inside the Archangel, the situation was bad, to say the least. To begin with, they had to deviate their course a little to reach the Strike. However, once the Strike managed to get into the Archangel, that's when the real problems started. They tried to engage the re-entry sequence. At first, the ablative gel was released as normal. However, midway, the cooling system to counter the heat of reentry malfunctioned. Already the insides of the Archangel were starting to heat up, and if this kept up, it would cook them alive. Everyone was scrambling to get the systems to work again, the engineers trying to manually restart the system, while the bridge crew kept trying to get the program to respond, but nothing was working so far. As it was, things looked bleak for the ship. However…

"Garuru Cannon!" came a familiar voice, as they saw the Omni Gundam flying under the Archangel and firing its arm cannon at the Archangel. The crew was shocked that the knight-like mobile suit had suddenly attacked them. "Why did he attack us? Isn't he our ally?" Kuzzey asked.

"All hands, prepare to counterattack! Strike, can you engage the Omni Gundam?!" Natale ordered.

"Wait! Don't attack him!" Kira shouted.

"What are you talking about? That Mobile Suit just attacked us!" Natale said

"Please take a look at the Archangel's temperature!" Kira said

"The Archangel's temperature has dropped a little! It's still dropping!" one of the crewmen reported.

"I knew it! That right arm normally fires some kind of freezing solution at its target. It doesn't seem to be a lethal weapon." Kira said

"Are you telling me that pilot knows about our condition? Does he have an informant here?" Murrue asked

"But that's suicidal! I mean we're almost entering Earth's gravitational pull! He'll get burned to a crisp if this keeps up!" Sai said

"Omni Gundam, can you hear me? I am Murrue Ramius, Captain of the Archangel. We understand your motive but it is dangerous for you to keep this up! Please fall back and land on the Archangel!" Murrue said in open channel.

"That's an offer I must refuse!" was the reply from the Omni Gundam's pilot, which had undoubtedly surprised everyone with his answer. "If you fall back for repairs, the ZAFT forces will come and attack again. That risk must be avoided!"

"Besides, I have my own reasons to protect the ship, and I intend to do so! Of my own free will!" Omni Gundam said as he threw his shield at him. 'I hope this works.' Asher thought deeply. "Activate! Brave Shield!" The shield later formed the translucent shield that was used to block against Vesalius cannon before, the shield doing its best to create a field to block the excess heat of reentry.

'I hope this will last till Nanomon repairs the Archangel's cooling system, or we'll all be cooked alive!' Asher thought as he kept firing his Garuru Cannon, and hoped that he won't feel this heat again.

Meanwhile, the Digimon were doing what they could to help out. Nanomon was furiously annoyed that the humans out there were only managing to interrupt his work with their primitive programming. It was getting annoying having to erase and re-code the system again, while Yukidarumon and IceDevimon were using their ice techniques to cool down their surroundings, as for Elecmon he used a portable water hose like a firefighter to douse the surroundings with a torrent of water. How he got that was thanks to Nanomon.

"Oi, Nanomon! Aren't you done it yet? The tank is going to run out of the water any minute now!"

"I almost at my limit as well," Yukidarumon said as she breathes heavily from exhausting too much of her power.

"I can't keep chilling anymore…...can I chill for a minute?" IceDevimon said tiredly.

"Don't be an idiot! If you stop, we're toast! And these foolish humans and their primitive programming are interrupting my work! I had to block their access and override the code at the same time myself!" Nanomon complained.

"So our great scientist Nanomon can't even handle this bit of workload, huh?" Elecmon snarked.

"What did you say? As if your limited RAM would be able to understand the difficulties of a scientist's work being interrupted by fools!" Nanomon said

"Don't call me an idiot, you glass-tube head!" Elecmon said

"Oh, you're smart enough able to classify yourself as an idiot. Guess there's still some intelligence left in your head after all. What a surprise." Nanomon said as he continued typing.

"Boys boys! You're both pretty, now get back to fixing before we all die screaming!" Yukidarumon cut in as she punched another section of the system that was on fire, freezing it with her powers.

"By the way, I think the cool boy might be in trouble now," IceDevimon said as he fired his Icy Shower from his wing onto the system, though the ice soon melted.

"Asher?" Elecmon said as he accesses the ship's transmission and opened a monitor saw Asher was firing his Garuru Cannon while leaning on the Brave Shield. "Oh no! Nanomon quick, Asher's going to get cooked alive at this rate!"

"I'm trying! Stop interrupting me!" Nanomon said as he frantically worked on the system.

Elecmon groaned, thinking fast. There had to be...something...he idly looked towards the two ice Digimon nearby and felt like someone switched on a lightbulb in his head. "Asher! Use Yukidarumon's and IceDevimon's cards!" he shouted at the screen, the transmission going through.

Asher blinked when he heard the voice, but on cue, the two cards floated up before him. "That's it!" he nodded. "Thanks for the idea Elecmon. Though, since when did I get them?" With that, his Digivice floated in front of him. "Let's go, Yukidarumon!" he shouted as the card slotted in.

Outside, the Omni Gundam stopped firing its Garuru Cannon, the cannon retracting into its arm. "Absolute Zero Punch!" he called out, his right arm covered in a frigid blue aura.

Inside the Archangel though… "Wait, did he just say 'punch'?!" Sai gasped.

"Brace for impact!" Murrue shouted, right before the Archangel shook, the Omni having punched the hull, covering it in a layer of ice.

However, while most of the crew had been surprised by the...unorthodox means of keeping the temperature under control, the one who was most surprised was Huckmon. "That attack…!" Huckmon gasped.

"Do you know what it is?" Kira asked.

"Know it? I've seen it before! That's an attack belonging to Yukidarumon, an ice Digimon!" he said, causing Kira's eyes to widen in surprise as he looked towards the screen showing the Omni Gundam. It seemed the mysteries surrounding the suit just kept on growing….

Meanwhile, Asher wasn't done. "Let's cool things off! IceDevimon!" he said, the card slotting in, before facing his Brave Shield. "Zero Freeze!" he called out as lasers were fired from the Omni's left arm, covering the Brave Shield in a thick layer of ice, which did well in protecting from the heat...for now.

Despite themselves, the crew of the Archangel couldn't help but stare at the sheer power the Omni Gundam was exhibiting. "Damn...what CAN'T this guy do?" Tolle's question was something they all couldn't help but agree with.

Fortunately, the Digimon weren't gawking, and the decrease in heat gave Nanomon the time he needed to finally get the systems to restart. "Alright, the systems are back online, the Archangel's cooling system will go back to normal in 3...2...1!" he said. On cue, the systems went back online.

Miriallia quickly noticed this. "Cooling systems are online again! Continuing reentry sequence!" she reported, as the ablative gel completed the coating process and the temperature was quickly regulated. However, it was then that they noticed the Omni Gundam trying to move, but seemed to have difficulty. "We've entered the Earth's atmosphere! Gravitational pull is in effect!" she shouted.

"Captain! Please let me out with the Strike!" Kira ask

"What are you saying, Kira?! Are you trying to kill yourself?!" Sai asked.

"That's right! Right now, we're entering the Earth's atmosphere!" Tolle said

"But we can't just leave the Omni Gundam alone out there! We owe him our lives!" Kira said the crew went silent while debating themselves about this situation.

"That will not be necessary." A voice was heard and believed it was from the Omni Gundam. "Don't waste your life on a perfect stranger like myself."

"Then why did you help us all this time?" Murrue asked

"I had said it before, I have my own personal reason for protecting this ship and nothing to do with your foolish war. But that's not important, I'm pretty much involved one way or another." Omni Gundam said.

The Brave shield had started to crack and dissipated behind the Omni Gundam. "Looks like it's reached its limit. The rest is up to you, Kira." Omni Gundam said as he completely disperses into countless particles and disappeared from Archangel's view.

The crew was speechless not just because of the disappearing act, but something unexpected. "Kira, did that guy just called your name?" Miriallia asked

"Dude! You know each other?" Tolle asked

"No! I mean I don't even know anything about the Omni Gundam." Kira said as he shook his head, he was surprised as well that the mysterious mobile suits had just called his name. However, now that he thinks about it, the way he talks seems awfully familiar.

"We talk about it later, all hands on position! We're entering the Earth right now!" Murrue ordered.

Meanwhile in the Vesallius. Rau was alone in his room. He was all but ready to execute Yzak on the spot when he left with the Duel. However, the moment the insect monster suddenly emerged from the mobile suit before had made him believed that it was the work of his associate.

He wasn't entirely upset, nor was he thrilled about it. Sure the puppet displayed good promise but he was still sour about not being informed of this and he would have liked to avoid unnecessary deaths in his forces, although he didn't really care about it anyway.

"You seem unhappy. Is it something to do with me not informing you about that little drama?" A voice was heard in his room, his monitor showing a shadowed image covered in static.

"Not really, it's just that I never expected that white Mobile Suits to be able to defeat your puppet like that," Rau said

"Hmph, it's unexpected that a mere toy was able to defeat an Adult Digimon like that. Which is why I've decided that it should be destroyed immediately," the voice growled.

"Ho? It's rare hearing you so worked up about something." Rau mused, a slight smirk on his face.

"It's a mixture of things. To begin with, it's clear that it's no ordinary mobile suit. Having such a wild card may or may not overturn our scenario, but is that really a risk you want to take?" the voice said. "Likewise, that mobile suit...it bears a strong resemblance to an old nemesis of mine," the voice growled.

"In that case, I guess it's time to use one of our trump cards then.?" Rau asked

"Hrm…..It's too soon for that stage, although I can spare a few of minions to deal with this problem." the voiced said

"How many?" Rau asked

"At least three." The voice answered. "Let's just say, the Legged Ship is about to find itself gaining a few new pursuers," the voice said, its voice gaining a notable smirk on it.

"In that case, I'll make the necessary preparations. I'm sure my elite pilots can act as good sacrifices." Rau smirk.

"No, they may be considered elites, but they're still green even with their new toys. Besides, watching them flounder around 'fighting for the PLANTS' never ceases to amuse me. No, I think something more….mature and not so easily broken would be preferable. I'm sure there's some experienced veteran of hunting a target, no?" The voice asked.

Rau cupped his chin thinking in his thought trying to think who would be suitable, "I think I know some of them, but their skills are lower than our elites. I need to ask my superior if needed." Rau said

"Do what you must. I'll 'smoothen' the details for you. Until then, partner," the voice chuckled as it vanished.

"Of course. I'm counting on you, partner," Rau chuckled as put a hand into his pocket and pulled something out. "After all, nothing will get in our way," he said, revealing the item to be a Digivice, one that was black as starless night.

Meanwhile, the Menelaos had arrived at the Lunar Base for repairs from the battle early. They had suffered a great number of casualties, and they had never expected to survive that battle. The news about an 'insect monster' appearing from a Mobile suit was spreading like wildfire. However, the people in the Lunar Base disregarded that as a mass hallucination or exaggeration, and this had caused Admiral Halberton a great deal of agitation upon seeing the utter disregard for the possible danger, even after the recordings recovered had shown the monster.

"I can't believe that those people think this is some cartoon show, Admiral." His second in command said. "We lost so many of our men in that attack and this is what they do? Laugh it all off?"

"Don't let it bother you, Vice- Admiral. I already suspected that they wouldn't believe this kind of report. They're only interested in obtaining the Strike's battle data and the OS analysis to build their own Mobile Suits to counter ZAFT." Admiral Halberton said as they walked together in the hallway until they reached his office.

"Anyway, did you find what I asked for earlier?" Admiral Halberton asked as he opened the door and entered.

"Yes, sir!" The Vice-Admiral replied as he closed the door, while the Admiral sat on his chair. The Vice-Admiral walked towards his Admiral's desk and placed the datapad on it.

Admiral Halberton took the datapad and filed through a few pages. "I knew it."

"Sir, should we attempt to contact the Archangel?" His Vice-Admiral asked.

"No, that will be futile. Based on their trajectory when they entered the atmosphere, they've likely landed in one of the most troublesome places on the Earth. No doubt their communications are being jammed by the N-Jammers." Admiral Halberton said

"Banadiya dessert, that's where the Desert Tiger, Andrew Waltfeld is stationed isn't it, Admiral, sir?" The Vice- Admiral asked

"Ah, not to mention it's well within ZAFT territory. Although, I heard there is some local guerrilla resistance that has been fighting against ZAFT." Admiral Halberton said

"Do you think that boy had done something to lead them to the Desert Tiger?" Vice-Admiral asked

"No, that possibility is too low. When I had my chance to face him alone and asked what he thought about this war, do you know what he said?" Admiral Halberton asked.

"No, I don't." The Vice-Admiral shook his head.

"He said that this war was stupid, that this war would bring no gain for either side other than total genocide and the ones who started the propaganda for the war are worse than children throwing a tantrum." Admiral Halberton said as he chuckled from the memories.

"He-he said that? In front of you, Admiral?" The Vice-Admiral asked with a sweat drop.

"Ah, I was surprised as well as if he was a completely different person than I had been expecting. That straightforwardness is really something rare to see in this day and age, especially at his age. Ah, youth." Admiral Halberton said as he laughs.

"But, if he's not a ZAFT spy, could he be from Orb?" Vice-Admiral asked.

"I had thought of that possibilities, but the result is as you know." Admiral Halberton tossed the datapad on his desk, revealing Asher's picture with a blank file which read 'Unidentified'.

"Isn't it strange, Vice-Admiral? That we find absolutely nothing about this boy. We even had our spies in the PLANTS and ORB try to find information on the boy, but nothing came up." Admiral Halberton said.

"T-This is? That's impossible, no matter what there's no way a person's information can be hidden so well!" The Vice-Admiral said after he flicked the pages.

"Furthermore, there is that mysterious Mobile Suit, the Omni Gundam. Did you recall what was its weirdest feature as reported by the Archangel?" Admiral Halberton asked.

"Its ability to seemingly appear and disappear out of nowhere?" The Vice-Admiral asked

"That's one, but there's another thing that makes me suspicious." Admiral Halberton said.

"W-What is it, sir?" The Vice-Admiral asked

"Is the fact that the boy first appeared after their first encounter with the Omni Gundam. Furthermore, from some additional information they provided, the boy had been in Heliopolis before its collapse, and since he 'joined' the crew, the Omni Gundam has been appearing to assist the Archangel time and time again. Don't you think this coincidence is a bit…..suspicious?" Admiral Halberton asked with his fingers folded over each other in front of his face.

"Sir? Are you suggesting that the boy has a connection to that Mobile Suit?" the Vice-Admiral gasped.

"More than that. I think the boy may even be the pilot of that suit," Halberton said.

"But sir, if that were the case, how could he get into the suit to pilot it and get out without anyone noticing? And for that matter, where is he hiding that suit and how is he maintaining and recharging it?" the Vice-Admiral pointed out.

"Impossible, I know. But then again... a boy who doesn't exist, and a suit that surpasses even the finest of human technology. Normally impossible, but then...nothing about either of them seem to follow what we would consider 'normal'," He mused. "Certainly an alien situation, don't you think?"

"But sir that's…!"

"I know. Which is why I'd like for this conversation to remain among us. As it is, this is purely speculation," Halberton said.

"Understood," he nodded.

"Good, now then, have the Engineers run another check on the ship. We don't want anything happening before we get back to base," Halberton ordered. Despite that, he still wondered. It was clear something had been added to this situation, and he had no idea how it would affect the future to come.

Meanwhile, in the desert of Banadiya. The Archangel had landed unharmed, but a few groups of people emerged from the sandy hills using binoculars to take a look at the Archangel.

"So, that's the Earth Alliance's new battleship?" A voice said, the owner lowering her binoculars, revealing short blonde hair.

"Ah, what should we do?"

"We keep monitoring them for now. No doubt the Desert Tiger will make his move soon."

"Understood, we'll make preparation then. You lot come with me!"

The group later disperse leaving the blonde hair girl alone, "Are you here?" she asked in a soft tone.

"Yes, your orders?" Another female voice is heard behind the blonde girl hiding in shadows.

"Can you keep an eye on Waltfeld's troops? I suspect the Desert Tiger won't let this chance slip from his grasp." the blonde girl said.

"Understood, shall I dispose of them?" the voice asked

"No, not yet. But, while you're at it. Do you think can plant the explosive on around here?" The blonde girl said as she took out a map from her vest pocket and pointed the direction.

"It shall be done." the voice said

"Thanks, you're really a big help." the blonde girl said

"I'm always at your service, Cagalli-sama." the voice said as she disappeared leaving the girl named Cagalli alone as the girl walked back towards her camp.

"And I'll always be thankful to you, partner," Cagalli said.


	13. The unexpected exposure.

"It's so hot…..of all the places on Earth, why did we have to land in a damn desert?!" Asher whined with his head on the workbench as he still had not yet fully recovered from the atmospheric heat that almost burned him alive after stopping Kuwagamon. The fact that any damage or any effect onto his Gundam will be experienced later on his physical body doesn't help him feel even better with a standing fan with full speed blowing at him. "Couldn't we have landed on a beach or north pole or something?"

"That's what you're worried about? Not that we're smack dab in the middle of ZAFT territory?" Mu deadpanned.

"Well there was that too, but at least we can shoot them till they go away," Asher said. "This heat? Not so much…"

"...the sad part...that's actually a good point…" Mu sighed, his face soon buried in his palm. "By the way, how are the Archangel's repairs coming along?"

"According to the old man, repairs are going smoothly. If nothing goes wrong we can get out of this damn desert in a few hours. But our supplies are getting thin, so it'd be best if we could stock up before heading to Alaska." Asher said.

"Well, that's good news. I heard there's a new weapon or something from the 8th fleet, the Skygrasper was it?" Mu asked

"Ah, it's the new atmospheric battle fighter jet. We already made preparation on one of them and it's combat worthy now since Lieutenant Mu can't use the Moebius Zero on Earth, right?" Asher said.

"Huh," Mu blinked. "Well, good work. With where we are, we'll probably need it real soon."

"I hope not. I prefer not going out to fight under that heat, I still haven't completely cooled down from the previous battle, sigh." Asher said softly.

"Huh? Previous battle?" Mu asked as if he heard correctly.

"Eh? Ah, no it's nothing! Just that it's still hot from that atmospheric entry right? Plus this desert heat as well, isn't it hot, Lieutenant?" Asher said frantically.

"Er….I guess?" Mu replied

"Then, I think I better cool myself for some drink in mess hall or I'll get heatstroke! Excuse me!" Asher said as he quickly runs towards the mess hall leaving the confused Mobile Armour pilot trying to processed what's going on recently.

"And here I thought he won't get any weirder before. That guy really is a handful at times," Mu sighed as he scratched his head.

Asher walked into the mess hall with a sigh. That had been far too close for comfort in his opinion. He was just glad he'd had that slip of tongue around Mu rather than someone else. Taking a drink from the dispenser, he turned around...and noticed Kira's friends were there. "...when did you guys get here?" he blinked.

"Er...you kinda walked past us even when we tried talking to you," Kuzzey said, scratching the back of his head. An awkward silence descended at that before Asher decided to try and break it up.

"So...you guys all decided to stay too?" Asher asked.

"Yeah, we did," Tolle nodded.

"Mind if I ask why?" Asher asked. "Don't get me wrong, I'm really glad you guys stayed, but why did you want to stay?"

"Well...to be honest, we were about to leave…" Miriallia started. "But then we started thinking...that Kira has done a lot to keep us safe. So we decided to stay and wanted to help out too. We can't just leave Kira alone if he wanted to stay."

"But in the end, we all together in this ship. Well, not that it's a bad thing." Tolle said

"I hope you guys know that we're practically an official soldier if we decided to stay," Asher said

"And how about you, Asher? I mean, yeah we're friends but we've only just met….um you know what I mean, right?" Sai asked.

"Well, I got my own personal reason to stay. Suffice to say, I'm not one to leave things half done," he said...before adding, "Come to think of it, is Allster here as well?" Asher asked Sai.

"No, she went with her father. Although I was supposed to follow them, I decided to stay on the Archangel, same reason as them though." Sai said. "Just leaving after everything...it didn't seem right to me either. So I decided to stay," he said. "To be honest, Flay was even thinking of enlisting too but I managed to talk her out of it."

Everyone looked at him for a moment...before deciding not to say anything about it. "Good call…" Asher couldn't help but say, though he felt a sweat drop at the back of his head. The image of Flay Allster 'serving her country' so to speak...it wasn't working in his head.

"By the way, where's Kira? Isn't he with you?" Asher asked

"Oh, he's in his room resting. That last battle really took a toll on him, so we thought we'd get him some food or something." Tolle said

"I see, is he alright?" Asher asked

"Fatigue I guess, at least he didn't suffer any injuries," Tolle replied.

"At least that monster was taken care of. Without that Omni Gundam, we might all be dead now." Kuzey said

"Yeah, that was scary." Miriallia nodded in agreement

"By the way, did you know that Omni Gundam just called Kira by his name? I wonder if they met before?" Sai asked

Asher back steps a little, 'Oh man, not again...' he mentally groaned at ANOTHER slip of his tongue. If he kept this up, he could kiss his secret identity goodbye real soon. "Ah, hey! Are you taking some food to Kira right? He must be hungry, I'll go pick it up and give it to him!" Asher said as he went to the counter and ordered some food.

"Woah, slow down dude. We can carry his food later besides he's-"

"I insist!" Asher said, giving a glare that stunned the group, to which they wisely decided that it was best not to test their luck when Asher is giving that look. In no time, the food is ready on the tray and Asher quickly took it and headed out for the mess hall.

"What just happened?" Sai asked

"No idea, hahaha." Tolle said as he sheepishly laughs.

Asher continued to walk faster until Kira's room was in sight, his mind still in panic mode until he ended up forgetting his manners, and promptly barged in without knocking on the door. Although he wondered why Kira didn't lock the door.

When he got in, he was treated to the sight of Kira scrambling, no doubt surprised by the sudden intrusion. However, what REALLY caught his attention was something that had fallen. "Yo, Kira," he said, trying to sound normal. "I heard you were resting after that fight so I thought I'd bring your meal," he said. "By the way, what's that you got there?" he asked, pointing at the thing by the bed.

"Oh, ah, this is just a doll I found back in Junius Seven," Kira quickly said, looking strangely nervous for some reason. But when he moved to pick up the 'doll', Asher saw why. It was a dinosaur with bone white scales, a horn on its snout...and a red cape/scarf that looked like it had goggles on it. Most people wouldn't think anything of it.

However, Asher knew exactly what it was, seeing as it was a character made to celebrate an anniversary. It was a Huckmon. Kira had quickly put it on the bed, the Digimon remaining motionless in an attempt to act like a doll. However, when Asher idly looked towards the desk, what he saw next made his inner fanboy nearly have a fangasm. There, on the table was an odd device. While the design wasn't like anything he'd seen before, he could recognize a version of the Digivice when he sees one.

"Doll, huh? Well, it looks nice. Sorry for barging in on you like that, but...here's your food," Asher said, trying VERY hard to maintain his composure, and quickly set the food on the table. "Well, see ya later," he said quickly and left the room.

"Ah! Asher-" Kira started, but the door was already closed. "Wait?" he blinked, wondering what the hell that was about.

Asher on the other hand quickly ran to his room, locked the door, then took his pillow and proceeded to squee into it. "I can't believe it! Kira has a Huckmon! What's more, he has a Digivice, which means he's a Chosen Child! This is AWESOME!" Asher shouted as he threw his pillow up in the air and caught it just to squeeze it tightly.

"That answers how the Strike was able to use that Teen Blade that time, Kira must be placing his Huckmon inside the Strike's system somehow. Speaking of which, how did the Kuwagmon be inside of Duel in the first place?" Asher asked himself as he remembered the conversation with Nanomon before.

[Flashback]

"Hey Nanomon, I've come to visit you!" Asher said as he entered Nanomon's lab called the Nano lab, a lazy example of naming sense in Asher's opinion.

"You mean you're here to check on Kuwagamon's Digicore, right? Get your facts straight!" Nanomon said

"Jeez, just because I'm here regarding Kuwagamon doesn't mean I'm not visiting you." Asher sighed as his shoulders dropped slightly.

"Whatever," Nanomon huffed. "The Digicore is stable now. It will take some time to repair and restore its body frame to normal ." Nanomon said

"Won't it revert to a Digitama?" Asher asked

"That only happens if it was deleted and sent to the Datastream to be reborn. The Datastream is a flow of data where we Digimon, or rather, our core data, come from. You could say it is the equivalent of heaven or wherever our souls go to rest in peace and/or to be reborn." Nanomon said.

"Oh? I didn't know there's something like that exist." Asher was surprised at this new information.

"But what puzzles me is that when a Digimon gets deleted, if their Digicore is still intact, normally it will be sent into the Datastream," Nanomon said

"Eh? What do you mean?" Asker asked

"What I mean is that the Kuwagamon's Digicore should be in Datastream by now since its body data was deleted, but it seems there's an unexpected phenomenon happened," Nanomon said as he turned around facing Asher.

"And the main reason is YOU!" Nanomon said as he pointed a finger at the boy.

"Eh? Me?" Asher point himself.

"Of course! Who else would it be?! It seems that light of yours prevented the deletion process, hence why Kuwagamon's Digicore is still here instead of the Datastream. What's more, it's slowly self-repairing its body data to its former form." Nanomon said

"I don't really quite understand," Asher said as he scratched his head,

"Grrr….What I mean is that for some reason YOU, instead of deleting it, somehow managed to reformat Kuwagamon's body data from the Digicore and the Digicore is self-repairing its body data to return to its original form! Get it?! Nanomon said

"I see, so Kuwagamon will be back to normal instead of returning to Datastream to be reborn because it's not dead. You should have said that from the beginning, Nanomon." Asher said

"I HAD stated it very clearly! Get some nutrition to develop more brain cells for Fanglongmon's sake!" Nanomon said

"By the way, did you find anything about that dark chip?" Asher said as he didn't hear Nanomon words about developing brain cell.

"Well, nothing to study since it's being destroyed. But based on the visual image, I had never seen anything like it before but it's without a doubt it was made from Digizoid metal." Nanomon said

"Digizoid metal? Then, it was created by Digimon?" Asker asked

"Yeah, but we don't know who, where or how they made it. Let's just say we're not the only Digimon in this world, boy." Nanomon said

"Then there's a mastermind behind all this…" Asher said

"That's correct, I will investigate the dark chip as much as I can. Maybe when Kuwagamon is fully recovered we can ask if he remembers anything, I think it will be best if you start investigating in your world as well. After all, you seem to have good skills in collecting information and investigation. We won't know when another attack like that will happen again." Nanomon said

[Flashback end]

"If there's really a mastermind behind Kuwagamon case, then this is more serious than I thought. Best I'll find as much information as I can, but the Archangel won't be able to provide much and I need to find clues or I won't able to find anything." Asher said

Suddenly something had hit the Archangel, the ship was shaking from the tremors and the Archangel instantly activated its alarm. 'Sigh, I guess I can get used to this already. Better get back to the hangar quick and be ready myself." Asher said as he hopped off from his bed and quickly headed towards the hangar as the Archangel had entered battle status.

"Where had you been?!" Murdoch said as he saw Asher coming his way.

"Chilling myself from the heat! Is ZAFT attacking us now?" Asher asked

"Yeah, you go to the Strike, I'll handle the Skygrasper check-up," Murdoch said

"On it." Asher quickly runs towards where Strike is and saw Kira was ready to enter the cockpit. He also saw Kira was holding something, unintentionally his eyes suddenly glowed with a stream of data on his iris as he zooms in he saw it was the Digivice he saw in Kira's room.

"Sorry for the wait! Feeling better now, Kira?" Asher asked as he stopped on the control panel stationed in front of the Strike.

"Asher? What are you doing here?" Kira asked as Asher noticed Kira quickly placed the Digivice somewhere inside the cockpit.

'Oh? So the cockpit had a slot for inserting the Digivice? Must be that Digivice's work.' Asher thought.

"Oh, you know, the old man is making final preparation & checking on Lt. Mu's Skygrasper, so I'm your so-called mechanic now, hehe," Asher said as he got into the control panel that was located in the hangar. Normally controls were handled by the bridge, but just in case, the hangar had a secondary set of controls just in case. Starting up the system, he began his work checking the status of the Strike.

"Alright, all systems nominal. Status all green, irregular bugs all clear, fixed armaments all functioning normally, Striker packs are ready to deploy. As we're in a desert, I suggest you use the Aile Striker pack for maneuverability." Asher said as he pressed the communicator.

"Eh? I was just planning to use the Launcher pack to hold my ground." Kira said

"Well, it's your choice. But remember, we're pretty much in enemy territory and as far as I know, ZAFT might use ground specialty Mobile Suits that are different from GINN as we're no longer in space and not to mention the gravity here. If the enemy has the advantage on the ground, I'm afraid that Launcher won't do any good." Asher said

Kira went silent for a moment, 'If what Asher said is true that ZAFT will use ground specialty Mobile Suits, Launcher Strike won't be able to cut it!' Kira thought

"Got it! Kira, look at your Strike database! It should have a data library of ZAFT mobile suits the Earth Alliance collected in the past till now! And I had to say it's a tough one, especially in the desert." Asher said

Before Kira wanted to access it, Huckmon had already found the data and displayed it on the monitor. Kira quickly read through all the information and realized that the dog-like Mobile Suits called Bucue are extremely fast while on the ground.

"I see, thank you, Asher! This helps a lot." Kira said as he looked at the monitor showing Asher's face.

"No worries, just do what I can to help out. So I take it you want the Aile Striker?" Asher grin on the monitor.

"You already know the answer after showing me this." Kira pouted

"Who knows if you wanted to play Duck Hunt or was it Dog Hunt for those running dogs or you wanna play catch with your Sword Strike boomer-" Asher was starting to laugh but...

"Asher, just give me the Aile Pack already, please?!" Kira actually shouted. This was NOT the time for one of Asher's jokes.

"Gah! Aye aye, captain!" Asher fumbled in surprise. Fortunately, he managed to input the right commands, and the Aile Strike was quickly assembled. "There you go, with this maybe you can ride on those Bucue if you're lucky?" Asher said as he shrugs his shoulder.

"Ahahahaha…." Kira just laughs sheepishly as the image of Strike riding on Bucue seems…..too unreal to happen.

"Too bad it wasn't a horse though, could make a good ride," Asher said as he nodded himself while his arms crossed over his chest and closed his eyes.

"Erm, Kira Yamato, Launching!" Kira said quickly, the Strike launching as fast as it could, as he...didn't think he could handle Asher's weird moments anymore while the ZAFT are attacking.

"Well, he's helpful but he's weird as usual," Huckmon said

"I think I have to agree with that Huckmon." Kira said as Huckmon set up his position inside the Strike's systems. The Strike soon landed in the sand...and the very first issue immediately presented itself, when the Strike's leg sank into the sand.

"Seriously? We haven't started fighting for 2 minutes and we're already having a problem?" Huckmon asked incredulously.

"Aw man, talk about bad luck," Asher said as he smacks his forehead. "I thought that Kira had done some adjustment on the balancer. I'm so screwed if old man found out about this."

"I have to help him out now, at this rate Kira will be dog food," Asher said as he looked around that nobody is paying attention to him. He raised his right hand on the monitor and jack himself into the system.

Inside the cyberspace somewhere in the Archangel, Asher digitized himself from a beam of light as he landed on the floor. "Now then," Asher said as his Digivice materialized on his right hand. "Let's go, Omni Gundam."

However, instead of the usual, Asher suddenly yelped in pain as he dropped his Digivice and Asher hugged himself while he dropped to his knees as the pain started traveling through his body. His body begins flickered with static and small sparks was formed around him.

'W-What's going on? My body-Argh!" Asher screams in pain as he dropped himself on the floor, rolled to his right side as he still hugged himself from the pain. "It's as if my body is going to split up!"

"Asher? Oh Fanglongmon, what happened to you?" Asher can hear Elecmon's voice.

"I don't know, my body is in pain all of a sudden," Asher said

"Hang on! I'll call Nanomon right now." Elecmon said as he hacked the Archangel's system and contacted Nanomon.

Asher noticed his vision started to gone black as he tried to keep his eyes open, but his body didn't listen to him. 'Crap, this isn't good. Kira, I'm sorry. You're on your own for now.' Asher thought before he passed out, unknowingly that Elecmon screamed his name right after that.

The Strike fired rather wildly, trying to hit the BCUE. Sure it got a few lucky hits, but for the most part, the BCUEs were running circles around them. "Careful on the power levels, Huckmon! If we lose the Phase Shift, they'll bombard us with missiles!" Kira warned.

"I know, but this is the best I can manage so far! How's the recalibration coming along?" Huckmon responded.

"Just a sec. I'll have it done...now!" Kira said, finishing the last adjustments. The balancer on the Strike's legs had been adjusted properly to suit the environment, and Kira moved the Strike accelerator to the max to ascending his machine into the sky, barely dodge BCUE's beam saber on its mouth.

"That was close, Kira. Any longer and we'd have been dog food." Huckmon said

"Yeah, let's counter-attack, Huckmon! We have to protect the Archangel!" Kira said

"Got it! Leave the aiming to me!" Huckmon said as he accessed to the Strike's Firing Control Systems with the said Mobile Suits eyes glowed while take aimed with its beam rifle at the incoming BCUEs

Meanwhile, inside of the Archangel's system. Asher was currently lying on a bed in the Digimon village.

Asher squirmed for a while before he slowly opened his eyes, trying to wake himself.

"Urgh…..Where am I?" Asher said tiredly.

"Oh, Asher? You're awake!" Asher heard a voice as he turns to the source of it and saw Elecmon beside him.

"Huh? Elecmon? What happened to me?" Asher said as he gets up, as he pressed his forehead with his right hand after he felt a throbbing in his head.

"You're in Nanomon's lab right now. By the way, what happen to you? I found you collapsed in cyberspace all of a sudden when I was surveying the area." Elecmon asked

"I don't know, I suddenly felt pain all around my body when I tried to transform into the Omni Gundam as if my limbs were being torn apart," Asher said

"Then I shall answer that question, Elecmon." Both Asher & Elecmon turned to see Nanomon entered the room with a datapad in his hand. "Let me ask a question, did you pass out when you tried transforming into this 'Omni Gundam' of yours?" Nanomon ask

"Yeah…" Asher said

"Hm….then if my hypothesis is correct. I'd say that your body or the 'Omni Gundam' of yours has finally reached its limit. Besides, you still haven't fully recovered from that last battle with Kuwagamon, especially the atmospheric heat you experienced." Nanomon said

"But Asher seems fine," Elecmon said

"Idiot. Even if he looks fine, his body is not. He's lucky that his data was able to stay in one piece. It was reckless for him to turn into particles with that gravitational pull and the heat of re-entry. If anything had happened, his data could have been deleted or in your case, that could have reduced you to an amputee...if he's lucky," Nanomon continued and turned to Asher.

"Well, at least since you're currently made up of data, or at least partial data, it'll be easy to examine you. Though I'm curious how it's even possible for you to enter cyberspace or more importantly how did you get urself a semi data-physical body? From what I know, humans in this world don't have that kind of technology or knowledge about sending the human body into cyberspace yet," Nanomon mused, but before Asher could reply, he continued, "Well, not like it's anything I need to know right now. Get some rest, boy. You won't be any good if you end up deleting yourself." Nanomon said almost flippantly.

"But Kira is fighting outside alone, I have to help him- urgh!" Asher said as he pressed his chest when he felt a sudden ache as his body developed some sparks around him.

"Settle down, boy. Don't make me force you and besides I'm sure they can hold out on their own for now. Not to mention I doubt with the help of a Digimon that friend of yours will be deleted that easily." Nanomon added.

"W-Wait, you knew Kira had a Digimon?!" Asher asked

"Pffft, of course, I did! We've already known that for a while, and of course, I made the first discovery. You're talking to the genius Nanomon here! Although, I can't believe it took you so long to notice." Nanomon said

"You knew this as well?" Asher turns his gaze on Elecmon.

"Yup, I thought you already know before. So yeah…." Elecmon said as he scratches his head

"Okay...then does the Huckmon know about...this?" he asked, gesturing around, referring to the island as a whole.

"Of course not, since all it does is stay in its Digivice, your friend's room or that robotic bird." Nanomon reply. "Besides, it's best that Huckmon doesn't know anything about us seeing that he's not the type to keep a serious matter a secret from his partner. It could make things complicated," Nanomon said

"I guess you're right. If the military acknowledged the existence of Digimon, it would bring more trouble for all sides. Digimon will be either captured for study or eliminated because of Kuwagamon's display." Asher said

"That's right. Although, if that Huckmon knows about us, no doubt that it will be a great help for us. But you know what I mean." Nanomon said

"Ah, for now, we keep watching over them. Well, I think Kira should be able to handle the ZAFT forces one way or another. I'm just worried if another case like Kuwagamon happens again," Asher said with a sigh.

"Well, so far there's no reading like before. So take this time to relax. Besides, the crew thinks that you're dead anyway." Nanomon said

"Huh?! What the hell?" Asher said

"Well, Nanomon is correct. I mean, in that devastating moment and the way you talked to your friend as if it were some kind of last will. You really painted the image of someone about to die," Elecmon said

"I'm-I'm so speechless that I don't know what to say," Asher said as he covered his face with his palm.

"Then take a rest or whatever, I need to check on Kuwagamon's Digicore. Make sure he stays in bed, Elecmon. If he tries anything, shock him up." Nanomon said as he exited.

"Scary…" Asher sweatdropped. "Is Nanomon a ruthless doctor or what?" Asher asked Elecmon

"Hm, well he's always grumpy like that. But when I contacted him about you being unconscious, he quickly rushed to the scene and examined you without delay. I say he's worried about you but not showing it openly." Elecmon said

"So a tsundere Nanomon? That's a first." Asher said

"What's that supposed to mean?" Elecmon asked

"Nah, best you don't know. And don't you ever tell him about this." Asher chuckled...right as he remembered what last happened. "The fight! What happened to the fight?!" Asher gasped.

"It's still going on," Elecmon said. As if on cue, the room shook, no doubt thanks to some damage the Archangel sustained.

"Dammit!" Asher grunted, getting out of bed.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Elecmon asked

"Trying to gain access to see what's going on outside," Asher said as he raised his right hand, accessing the Archangel system.

"Didn't you hear what Nanomon said? You need to rest or I have to shock you!" Elecmon said

"Calm down, I'm not leaving the room yet," Asher said as the monitor displayed had shown the battle feed from the Archangel's camera.

"Seems like Kira and Huckmon are managing to hold their own against the BCUEs," he sighed. But that didn't fill him with much confidence. He may act silly, but he'd read up on files concerning ZAFT, and he knew full well who was in charge of this area. And he didn't like knowing his friend was going up against them practically alone.

"If only there was a way to help against that BCUE and those missiles bombardments….huh?" Asher saw in the live battle feed that some of the missiles had been destroyed before making contact. However, he noticed that it was not shot down by the Strike or the Archangel.

"Am I seeing things or did those missiles exploded on their own?" Asher asked himself as his eyes started to glow knowing that his enhanced sight had been activated until he saw a blur with a humanoid frame seemingly attacking the missiles. "Whatever it is, it's too fast for my eyes to catch up."

"Then why not slow it down?" Elecmon suggested. Ever since meeting Asher and learning about what he could do, he'd started paying more attention whenever Nanomon went off on his tech explanations, so he understood how machinery like this worked a bit better.

"Hm, hang on. First of all, replay the footage and right…...here. Now then capture that blurred image and begin to appraise the image." Asher said as he moves his hands on the hologram panel.

"And finally getting rid of the pixels and we should be able to get a clearer picture," Asher said as the image begin to show clearly, Elecmon was watching with anticipation as well, curious about what the image reveal is making both of their jaws dropped.

"Eh?!" Both Asher and Elecmon screamed.

"Kira, I'd hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the Strike's getting low on power!" Huckmon warned. He was doing everything he could to optimize the power usage, but even that can only stretch the power source for so long...

"Tch! And these guys aren't letting up!" Kira growled as the BCUE continued to run circles around them, all the while pelting them with missiles every now and then. At the same time, they were attacking the Archangel too. But fortunately, it seemed they were able to defend themselves well enough for the most part, especially after Mu launched with the Skygrasper. However, slowly but surely they were being worn down. They all were. As if to emphasize that point, several missiles broke through their guard, and hit the Strike, sending it to its knees.

"We can't take much more of this!" Huckmon warned. He really wished he could evolve, but as it was, he really had no idea how he did it the first time. "Dammit…!" he growled under his breath, hating the fact that as a Child-level Digimon, this was all he could do.

Fortunately, the situation soon took a turn when a new voice suddenly entered the fray, signaled by a missile destroying one of the helicopters flying around and peppering them with shots.

"What the-?!" Kira and Huckmon gasped, turning to the source of the missile, and saw what looked like several Jeeps headed their way. At the same time, while all attention was focused on the jeeps, the remaining helicopters suddenly exploded, creating a great deal of confusion on the battlefield. At the same time, the jeeps began opening fire on the BCUE, launching bullets and missiles. Along the way, one jeep had used the confusion to get close to the strike, one of the passengers shooting a communication cable at the Strike.

"Attention, the pilot of this mobile suit. Listen to me!" the voice said, catching Kira and Huckmon's attention. "If you don't want to die, do exactly as I say!" at the words, a map appeared on their screen, marking an area not too far away. "There is a trap set at the indicated area. Lure the BCUEs there!"

"Are these...a Resistance?" Murrue asked in surprise, as the voice's commands had been transferred to their comms as well.

Back in the Strike, Kira looked at the situation, not fully sure what to do. "What do you think, Huckmon?"

"Could be a trap, but as it is, we stand a much better chance going for this!" Huckmon said, before the two of them nodded in agreement, the Strike quickly flying towards the designated area. Seeing the mobile suit fly, the BCUEs quickly chased after it. They soon made it to the area, landing on the ground. The BCUE wasted no time, and like the wolves they seemed to be based on, were ready to pounce on the Strike...only for the Strike to dodge at the last minute, the BCUE landing in the designated area... and were promptly destroyed when a set of explosives created a quicksand-like effect, followed by a second massive explosion that ensured they wouldn't be walking away from this.

Kira and Huckmon watched the explosion as they flew away, slightly slack-jawed. "Huckmon?"

"Yeah?"

"Good call."

"Anytime buddy."

Likewise, the crew of the Archangel was looking at the carnage in shocked surprise. Same with the 'residents'

"Well, I did NOT expect THAT would happen," Elecmon said

"Ahahaha, I guess so," Asher said as he can't find a right word to described what just happened. As he's still troubled about the identity of the mysterious shadow. "I better get back soon, since the battle is over, the old man is going to notice I'm not around anytime soon. Tell Nanomon that I say 'thanks for saving'." Asher said as he gets out of the bed, leaving Elecmon protest that he still needs some rest and headed to the exit so that he could return to the real world.

As Asher had logged out from the cyberspace, thankfully he's in his own room this time. He mentally notes that he needs to find a proper path when returning back from cyberspace. Before he left the room, he accessed the Archangel camera footage and hack it so edit some footage he secretly 'Connect Jump' or 'Logged out'. Thankfully, the corridor towards his room is a blind spot for the camera and he thanked whoever architecture it by unnoticed mistake.

"And now that's done, better head to the hangar quick. I got around 30 seconds before the decoy program I created to show empty hallway runs out." Asher said as he quickly dashed out of his room and headed towards the hangar.

Luckily, that his room was nearby the hangar area that he reached in time. Sometimes he arrived early before the timer runs out, so he manually turned it off from one of the consoles. 'I'm so lucky that I learn some hacking skills secretly, really comes in handy for me in this situation. Gonna thank mom & dad's secret notebook and the internet,' Asher thought.

As he finished, he heard the humming sound of a jet approaching and saw the Skygrasper return to the hangar. He saw his fellow maintenance crew quickly going over to it and do their thing, then Asher noticed that the Strike hadn't returned yet.

"Welcome back, Lt. Mu. Where's Kira?" Asher asked Mu after he got off the Skygrasper and took a drink to rehydrate.

"I saw the Strike was with the local resistance, doesn't seem like the Strike has enough power left to move around after that battle. I'm planning to head out to pick him up and have a meeting with the local resistance, I doubt they'd help us without any reason." Mu said

"Can I come as well? I mean I can look at the Strike's status if Kira is tired or something like that." Asher said

"Well, I don't mind. We're going by jeep anyway, you're really worried about Kira aren't you?" Mu asked

"That's what friends are for." Asher replied, 'True, I'm worried about Kira as I can't help him before. Although, I'm more curious about our mysterious shadow. I wonder if it's working with someone or acting alone?' Asher thought.

"The jeeps ready. I got a call that we're waiting for Captain Murrue and Ensign Badriguel. We probably might need to make some deal with the local resistance for supplies if it goes right." Mu said

"I see, a joy ride with the ship captain, a fighter pilot and the death glare Ensign whenever she looks at me. This is going to be a fun ride." Asher said

"Come on, I don't think Ensign Badgiruel hates you or anything," Mu said

"I bet 10 dollars that her first expression is a scowl when she sees me. You on?" Asher asked

"Deal," Mu said

And in the right moment, they saw both Captain Murrue and Ensign Badriguel arrived together and as Asher expected, the Ensign expression turn scowl when she saw him.

"What is he doing here, Lieutenant?" Natarle asked with scowl on her face

"Pay up, Lieutenant." Asher grinned after he saw the expression of Mu knowing the fact that he had lost the bet.

"Erm, well he's going to check up on the Strike in advance so that they can fix whatever is broken straight away when it's docked back into the Archangel," Mu said

"And why did he say you had to pay him?" Murrue asked

"Erm...well…." Mu wasn't sure if it's a good idea to answer that. After they heard the jeeps engine roaring and they saw Asher on the driver seat.

"Better hop on, who knows what they're doing with Kira and the Strike out there!" Asher said the three officer decided that they leave the topic and get on the jeep. Unknowingly, right after they had taken their seats, the Jeep suddenly accelerate at full speed without warning and drove out to the desert towards where the Strike is.

[Insert Benny Hill theme]

"Hey, kid! Do you have a driving license?! Ouch!" Mu asked as he accidentally bit his tongue because of the bumpy ride.

"Nope!" Asher replied.

"What?! Stop this jeep right now! Ouch!" Natarle bit her tongue as well.

"Better not speak or you'll bite your tongue-Ouch!" Asher bit his own tongue as well.

'I wonder which is worse, the battle just now or this boy driving!' Murrue thought as held on to the Jeep's frame like her life depended on it...and considering how badly Asher was driving, it could very well be, as the jeep continued to jump and shake as the passengers screamed for their lives when it jumped from a sand dune.

The ride felt like an eternity, but when it was finally over with a sharp break, the three seasoned soldiers were all but ready to start kissing the sandy ground after that death trap. That and they were seriously wondering if they could kill Asher in his sleep for making them go through that in the first place.

"Hey, you guys okay? You don't look too good," Asher said.

"It's your fault!" The three-officer yell at Asher as they point their finger with their angry vein popped into their head.

"Aw, come on. It's not that bad, right?" Asher asked

"Never take the wheels again, understood?" The three officers said the same thing at the same time with their death glare on him, Asher gulped himself as he nodded his head.

Nearby, the other new recruits watched the whole exchange. "Wow, glad we didn't hop on that jeep," was all Tolle could say.

"Agreed," where his friend's response, all of them glad they weren't anywhere near that death trap.

"Hey, there's Kira!" Asher quickly said, snapping all their attention to where he was pointing...and away from him at the same time (much to his relief). Looking at Kira, they were about to call out to him...when they saw a blonde haired girl (although, it was hard to tell cause she sure looked like she could pass for a guy with the right clothes) walk right up to him, and to their surprise, she tried to slap him, to which he caught the hand. However, she struggled to get free, and in the ensuing struggle, backhanded Kira in the cheek with her fist.

Everyone gasped at that but were soon even more surprised when… "Okay, that's it!" a new voice called out from seemingly nowhere. "Nobody does that to my partner!" the voice growled as, before their very eyes, something materialized from Kira's pocket, and lunged at the girl, revealing to be a small white dinosaur-like creature and one that looked ready to bite a chunk out of the girl. The sight was already enough to have everyone shocked. What followed...was just pushing it.

"You shall not touch Cagalli-sama!" a new voice called out before the Dinosaur was promptly slammed into the ground, the impact kicking up a dust cloud. When it cleared, it revealed the dinosaur on the ground, a white paw holding it down. A white paw belonging to a bipedal fox that looked as big as a person with purple gloves on its arms.

The entire group was stunned silent at the sight, with Asher only managing to say one thing to sum up the situation and what it no doubt meant. "Well shit…" he muttered under his breath.


	14. Meeting the Resistance

The sun in the desert was scorching as always. In the midst of that heat, the Archangel was being maneuvered into a rock formation that would serve as a hiding place and thus, a temporary base. Something that surprised most of the members of the Resistance Force known as the Desert Dawn. "They're guests. Behave yourselves," the leader of the group, Sahib, said to his men as Murrue said as she, Natarle, and Mu all walked alongside Sahib into the base. At the same time, the rest of the crew were busy setting up the Archangel for its temporary stay.

"Okay, just a bit more...and that's good," Asher said as Kira was using the Strike to help set up the camouflage while the rest of the Desert Dawn was working on various things.

"So you survived as well," came Cagalli's voice from behind him.

"Hey, there. I'm glad to see you survived as well. Didn't really have a chance to catch your name before." Asher said as he turned around facing Cagalli

"Cagalli, you?" Cagalli asked

"Asher. Well, it was a really close call. I thought I was a goner several times before I ended up on the Archangel. How are the kids doing? Are they fine?" Asher asked as he remembered in Heliopolis he was with two children trying to escape the colony.

"They're fine, right now they're safely living in Orb with their parents. They were crying non-stop when you were left behind that time." Cagalli said

"I see, that's a relief. I think it's better to visit them when I get the chance." Asher said

"You're a Natural, right?" Cagalli idly asked

"I guess, why do you ask?" Asher asked back.

"Well, they're Coordinators-" Before Cagalli could finish, Asher had beaten her to it.

"Look, I don't give a rat's ass about the Natural-Coordinator crap and this dumb war. If anyone is in danger, I will help them as much as possible be it Coordinator or Natural." Asher said

"I..see…" Cagalli was taken surprised by the boy's statement.

"By the way, do you know the Strike pilot? I mean, you did kind of slap him out of nowhere...I was wondering if he did something to piss you off," Asher wondered.

"W-We never knew each other, it's just I met him at the University in Heliopolis. And where the G-Weapon was." Cagalli whisper at the end.

"Hm, and here I thought you were his ex-girlfriend or something," Asher said

"G-Girlfriend?! Don't be absurd!" Cagalli shouted with a visible blush on her face.

"Hey, can't hurt trying to guess, right?" Asher said as he shrugged his shoulder.

"How about you? Why did you join as a soldier? Even though you don't care if someone is a Natural or Coordinator." Cagalli can't help but ask.

"Soldier? I'm just the guy who keeps the supplies in check. I don't think the Captain would let me even touch a gun...well...not after I tried to threaten them with a sledgehammer anyway…" he muttered the last part that he was brandishing the sledgehammer in front of the bridge to save Kira from being court martial after releasing Lacus. Now that he reminded back, he can't help but feel embarrassed and stupid for him to do so. Well, just a little.

"W-What? Sledgehammer?" Cagalli surprised and wondered if she heard correctly.

"Oh, it's nothing. I'm gonna head back to the Archangel hangar and clean the mess. I swear the crew loves to scatter their things everywhere." Asher said as he walked away mumbled something about discipline, leaving confused Cagalli blinked her eyes, she sighed and decided to leave that matter some other time.

"Phew, you guys live in a place like this?" Mu couldn't help but ask as they got to what seemed to be a command room, built into the rocks/caves.

"This is our front line base. Our homes are in the towns," Sahib explained. "Our group is made up of volunteers from various towns in the area."

"We appreciate your help with our ship," Murrue said as they gathered around the table in the center of the room. Sahib didn't respond, instead idly looking towards the door where Cagalli entered, followed shortly by Kira as he had finished setting up the camouflage for the Archangel. He simply nodded in response.

"Who is she?" Mu idly asked, noticing how Sahib looked at Cagalli.

"Our Goddess of Victory," he said simply.

"Wow. And her name?" Mu pressed on.

Sahib looked at him with mild annoyance, before answering, "Cagalli Yula."

"Alright. And the fox?"

"If you have a question, you can ask me directly," Cagalli cut in, sounding rather annoyed at how he was talking as if she wasn't there.

"Well, alright then. Mind if we ask where the fox came from?" Mu said.

"I'd also like to know where Ensign Yamato found that other creature as well," Natarle added.

Cagalli frowned at them and sighed. "Renamon," she said simply.

"You called, Cagalli-sama?" came a familiar voice, from right behind Mu, causing them to jump slightly as the yellow fox had seemingly appeared from the shadows.

"What the?! Where did it come from?!" Murrue gasped in surprise. Even Sahib was a little unnerved at how the Fox had gotten in without them noticing.

Kira was also surprised at the sight. "Where did she come from? That wasn't materialization," he frowned, and as if to confirm, he took out his Digivice, and out came Huckmon.

"That would be thanks to her species," Huckmon explained. "The Renamon is easily the fastest of the Child-level Digimon. Their strength is nothing to sneeze at either." He idly rubbed his head, remembering his own first-hand encounter with that fact.

"That still doesn't explain how that fox appeared out of nowhere," Mu said

"Well, think of her as what you humans call a 'ninja'. They're fast and able to move in the shadows." Huckmon replied.

Natarle decided to change the topic as this is going nowhere, "Ensign Yamato, you still haven't answered my question. Where did you get this creature from?"

"Erm...I.." Kira wasn't sure if it was a good idea to explain Huckmon's origin. But Huckmon beat him to it.

"I'll answer that for you. We are Digimon, short for Digital Monster. And as the name suggests, we're from the deepest part of cyberspace, or as most call it, the Internet." Huckmon said. "No, probably even deeper. Deeper than even what you humans call the Dark Web."

"W-What?" Natarle said while she's having a hard time trying to understand the explanation.

"I don't quite get it," Mu said as he scratched his head. Murrue and Sahib also share the same look.

"Jeez, Kira at least understands. Is the supposed difference between Natural and Coordinator intelligence really that big?" Huckmon sighed as he shook his head.

"No, it's just that your explanation is too complex for them to understand. To put it simply, we Digimon are life forms made out of data. Our home, the Digital World has likely located in the deepest part of the internet that humans aren't aware of," Renamon sighed. "Honestly, until recently, we ourselves weren't aware of your existence and how we're able to preserve our form in the physical world," she admitted.

"And what changed that?" Natarle asked, a slightly suspicious tone in her voice.

Renamon and Huckmon looked at each other, then turned to her and said in perfect synch, "Hell if we know."

"I was taking a nap when I woke up inside of one of the computers of the Archangel," Huckmon shrugged. "Good thing I managed to piggyback on the Strike when I had the chance."

"I was training in the forest I lived in when I suddenly found myself in one of the Desert Dawn's computers," Renamon nodded.

"So...what you're trying to say is that you two just suddenly ended up here unintentionally?" Mu asked

"We had no reason to be here from the beginning honestly. But as times goes on, it seems that we've found a reason to stay, and be bound to this place." Huckmon said

"What do you mean?" Murrue asked

"Kira, show them that stuff," Huckmon asked Kira who complied as he took out his Digivice and showed it to the rest. "That device that Kira is holding is called a Digivice. According to the legends, the Digivices are sacred relics that appear to the chosen heroes," Huckmon said.

Renamon nodded as well. "It is said that each warrior would have a Digimon by their side, and with the power of the Digivices, fight back a looming disaster and save the world."

"Huh," Cagalli mused, putting her hand in her pocket, and soon revealing a Digivice as well. "I know you said it to me before, but I guess I was a little skeptical." Her Digivice was shaped exactly like Kira's with blue and white color while hers was yellow and white.

"Hang on, you said that these things are sacred relics that save the world? Are you saying something will happen?" Mu asked

Both Renamon and Huckmon stared at each other and then turned to Mu. "We don't know. Besides, Digivices also act as a physical representation of our bond with their wielder. It is proof of our partnership." Huckmon answered.

"Speaking of which, have you experienced it?" Renamon asked.

"Experience what?" Huckmon blinked.

"I see. Where I'm from, the legends also said that the Digivice's greatest power and secret, was the Light of Miracles it contains," Renamon explained.

"Light of...you meant that light that happened when we were fighting against the Duel?" Kira gasped.

"Oh yeah, that light let me evolve!" Huckmon's eyes widened in realization.

"I see, so the legend is true. It is said that if the will of both the wielder and the Digimon are of one heart, the light of Miracles will shine brightly. So the miracle it brings is indeed Evolution," Renamon mused

"Yeah, I remembered I was juicing up the Strike real good. Though, I never thought that the Strike would be able to use one of my Adult form's moves." Huckmon said

"Wait, you were inside of the Strike?" Mu asked

"Inside the system, specifically. I only help out with the aiming system since Kira doesn't want to kill and delete some bugs that will hinder its performance." Huckmon said

"I never knew Digimon could be used on the Mobile Suit. Renamon, does that mean you can do it as well?" Cagalli asked

"Probably, but I've never been inside one of these 'Mobile Suits' and I'm not very familiar with machinery, honestly," Renamon said apologetically.

"Don't worry. You're awesome as you are." Cagalli said with a reassuring smile.

"Wait wait wait!" Murrue spoke up. She was seriously wondering if this wasn't some crazy dream because there was no way what she was seeing and hearing should be even remotely possible.

"Wow, calm down, Captain." Mu tried to calm Murrue down.

"How can I calm down from all this?! Creatures made out of data? A hidden world inside of the internet? And worse of all one of our own crew members had one all this time! How are we going to report to Alaska about this?!" Murrue said

"Ain't that simple? Just keep it a secret," Huckmon said, "I mean even if you tell them everything unless I came out and greet them, they'll think that you people are crazy." Huckmon said as he shrugged.

"That's true, but I believe we should aim to get these Digimon to aid in our cause. Seeing as they're able to enhance the performance of Mobile Suits, they could be an important asset for us. Maybe even be the key we need to finally produce Mobile Suits usable by Naturals," Natarle said.

"It'd be best for you to stop that train of thought. You're lucky I didn't come out to bite your head off when you were announcing Kira's execution last time. Besides, not all Digimon are as civilized as we are. There are some wild Digimon that have no problems deleting you humans." Huckmon said.

"W-What?" Natarle said as she took a step back away from Huckmon.

"Oh yeah, that Kuwagamon sure looked intent on taking a bite out of everyone up in space, didn't it? And that was just an Adult-level. Wait till you see a Perfect-level Digimon. Or worse, an Ultimate-level," Huckmon's grin was pretty much devilish now.

"Kuwagamon?" Kira asked

"Perfect-level Digimon?" Mu asked

"Ultimate-level Digimon?" Cagalli asked as well

"Perfect and Ultimate levels are categories of Digimon evolution. I and Huckmon are Child-level Digimon, which in human terms would be the rough equivalent of teenagers. We have 5 stages of evolution: Baby-1 and 2, Child, Adult, Perfect and lastly Ultimate, the final form of Digimon evolution." Renamon explained. "Did you say something about a Kuwagamon?" Renamon looks at Huckmon.

"Yeah, you guys remember it? The reddish stag beetle in space. That is an Adult Digimon, Kuwagamon." Huckmon said

"That thing was a Digimon too?!" Mu asked in surprised.

"Yep, though I've never seen one that size before. But all I'm trying to say is that don't ever think of forcing Digimon to obey you, we have our own will and instinct. If you pissed them off, just remember how Kuwagamon almost wiped out your allies back in space. If it had been a Perfect or an Ultimate, you guys better prepare to write your will." Huckmon said

"You mean you've fought a Digimon before in space?" Cagalli asked in shock.

"Yeah, it was a close call. Honestly, without the help of the Omni Gundam, we wouldn't be here now." Kira said.

"The Omni Gundam? What is that?" Cagalli asked, her eyes narrowing. Could this be another piece of her father's betrayal...

"It's the name of the mystery Mobile Suit that looked like some sort of knight. We don't know which faction it belongs nor their intention as there's no information about it in the Archangel or Strike's database, but It's been helping us ever since Heliopolis until we entered the Earth's atmosphere. I had to admit, without him, I don't think we would have survived up to this point." Mu said. "He even beat that Kuwagamon as you called it."

"Oh? Then is that Omni Gundam with you right now?" When Cagalli asked the atmosphere in the room suddenly felt gloomy on the Archangel officers and Kira, "W-What?"

"Truth is, we don't know. Before we entered the Earth's atmosphere, he was pulled by the planet's gravitational force…" Kira said as he clearly remembered the scene of the Omni Gundam descending into the Earth's atmosphere and disappearing into particles.

"Well, we don't know if he survived or not. All we know is that he disappeared into particles before he burned up. But I kinda get a feeling that he's still alive and trying to recover or something?" Mu guessed, causing a certain someone outside to sneeze.

"We can have this conversation next time." Sahib said, "It's been a long day, I'm sure you would like to discuss supplies?"

"That's right," Murrue said as she turns towards the kids and the Digimon. "That's enough for now. You two can leave and get some rest, especially you Kira, that battle earlier must have been exhausting." Murrue said

"Yeah, you should get some rest while you still can," Mu said as he pushed both Kira and Cagalli out of the room and the door closed. Once they were gone, Mu sighed. "So...am I the only one who's seriously wondering when the world suddenly stopped making sense?"

"I think you're not the only one, Lieutenant." Murrue sighed in response.

"The same for me as well," Natarle reply the same.

Both Kira and Cagalli had exited the camp together with their Digimon partners and continued to walk until outside. Kira noticed that Cagalli seem wanted to say something but seems troubled.

"What's wrong?" Kira asked

"No, it's just...I want to apologize for earlier, I didn't mean to hit you like that. Well, I guess I did...but it was a spontaneous thing. Forgive me." Cagalli said as she looked away.

Kira blinked his eyes until he lifted his right hand holding his laughter but he ends it up anyway. Cagalli saw this and she was annoyed by it, "What so funny?!"

"Sorry," Kira apologized. "It's just...seeing you right now...it's like you're a completely different person," he explained.

Cagalli keeps gaping her mouth like a fish, trying to say something but she couldn't find a word for it. Instead, she just huffs herself and looked away with a pout on her face. However, her attention was drawn away when she heard a chuckle. Turning to the source, she glared at Huckmon, only for the Digimon to wave his claws in denial.

"Hey, don't look at me. It was the fox over here that was laughing," he said, pointing at Renamon. True enough, Renamon had one of her paws over her mouth, though the amused smile behind it was unmistakable.

Cagalli was flabbergasted again knowing that her partner who rarely showed any emotion had laughed at her. She didn't know if she's supposed to be annoyed or happy to know that Renamon isn't quite as stoic as she thought.

"You know, I always wondered if both you and that guy Asher, made it out safely after the Heliopolis incident. I mean I didn't see any of you in the escape pod." Cagalli said as she quickly changes the topic to avoid further embarrassment on herself.

"Now that you mention it, do you know Asher?" Kira asked he can't help but wonder if the two had met before?

"No, we just met right before Heliopolis was destroyed. At that time, I was really worried if he survived that destruction, but I was relieved that he's alive now." Cagalli said as she sighs.

"Why?" Kira asked

"Well, that time he was together with two small children who got separated from their parents. He was contacting the same elevator where you pushed me inside." Cagalli said as she glared at Kira who back steps a little.

"I went up to get them, although I ignore those soldier at full capacity crap. Asher got those children in the elevator until the ceiling dropped on him. Luckily, he manages to avoid it but...the debris blocked the path, he urged me to take the children first and he said he would find a different path. After that, the kids were crying for so long and I tried to calm them down for some time and told me how he helped those kids, that he keep them safe from the time the children got separated from their parents, keeping them safe from the ZAFT/Earth Alliance soldier and how they reached the elevator. Though, knowing he's fine and all that kind of makes me relieved as well. At least, the children that he saved before will have a chance to thank him properly if he's in Orb." Cagalli said

"I see….I didn't know that Asher was willing to sacrifice himself for someone's safety." Kira said

"Yeah, it's rare to see guys like that. Although, he seems a bit weird. By the way, how did you and he get into the Earth Alliance?" Cagalli asked, at that moment Asher who had returned to the Archangel sneezed again and rubbed his nose.

"Well, after I left you, I coincidentally went inside where the Strike was and piloted it to save me and the captain. When trying to refuel the Strike, a CGUE came and my friends were around trying to look for evacuation. That's where my friends and I involved in this as we just saw Earth Alliance secret weapon, to keep us and the EA safe from ZAFT in a case of being captured for intelligence." Kira said

"As for Asher, we found him unconscious inside the Archangel storage room. He passed out from fatigue but no one knows how he got in there from the beginning but nobody seems trying to find out how anymore." Kira continued.

"Heh, I see. I heard he's in charge of supplies stock, does he like cleaning?" Cagalli couldn't help but wonder if Asher like doing chores?

"You have no idea…," Kira said as he shivered from the memory how Asher with a sledgehammer on his shoulder as he ordering him and his friends to help to organize the supplies when being caught that they had slacked off. "Sometimes, I always ask myself what kind of lifestyle he's having to have that kind personality." Kira sigh.

"What do you mean?" Cagalli asked, and behind her, Renamon seems curious as well.

"It's a long story….." Kira said as he began, and again Asher sneezed for the third time, feeling annoyed he's going to have to see the doctor later in case he caught the flu somehow.

Meanwhile, inside the ship known as the Lesseps, one of the men walked to the captain's quarters. "It's DaCosta," he said as he knocked on the door. "I'm coming in." However, when he opened the door, the first thing that hit him was the strong smell. Covering his nose a little, he was met with the sight of the leader of the ZAFT Forces occupying this area, Andrew Waltfeld, brewing a cup of coffee, no doubt another of his original blends. "Commander, what do you say we ventilate this room?" he couldn't help but ask.

"Is that what you came to tell me?" Andrew asked, without taking his eyes off his brew, and once it was ready, he poured it into his cup.

"N-No. That's not why" DaCosta said quickly. "Preparation for the sortie is complete, sir!"

Waltfeld smelled the coffee in his cup, "I see. Okay, I would prefer not to do anything so drastic, but I guess it can't be helped." Andrew said with slight disappointment tone as he wanted to take more time on his coffee brewing. DaCosta just blinked his eyes in confusion.

"Nevermind, aside from that I heard some intelligence from Creuset about Earth Alliance new weapon, right? The legged ship and the Mobile Suit Strike." Andrew asked

'Yes, sir. Here are files, also the information about Knight-1." DaCosta said

"Hm, well seems like they'll be troublesome to deal with. Especially, the Strike pilot. No Natural able to reconfigure the OS to adapt the sand in such short time. Even it is too fast for a common Coordinator." Andrew said as he sipped his coffee.

"I thought the Knight-1 will pose more threat than the Strike?" DaCosta asked

"We had no information or whatsoever about this Knight-1 or Omni Gundam as it called. The only thing we have right now is it's battle data, without knowing anything else we're as good as blind. But I won't deny its capabilities, and I heard that mysterious Mobile Suit defeated some sort of insect monster on the space, right?" Andrew asked

"Yes, or so the rumors said," DaCosta said

"Well, no point debating something we won't know yet," Andrew said as he sipped his coffee again and let out his satisfying sigh. "Want to try some? I can teach you how to brew."

"Thank you for the offer, sit. But no thanks, I don't understand how Commander able to stand it." DaCosta said.

"That means you're still a child, a real adult should drink coffee," Andrew said as he took another sip. "I wonder if I could find someone who knows how to brew, doing it myself sometimes feels lonely," Andrew said he flipped through the file again until he saw something that makes him frown and tossed the datapad on the table

"What's wrong, Commander?" DaCosta asked

"Look at that last page and you know what I mean," Andrew said as his eyes closed, DaCosta does as his commander said and his eyes widen when he saw it.

"T-This is, Commander?! Are they really serious sending them here?" DaCosta asked

"Seems like it. Tch, this kills my appetite and my coffee flavor. It seems like Patrick want to get rid of that Omni Gundam so badly that he sent THEM here." Andrew said as he opened his eyes.

"I hear they're extremely skilled but I also heard rumors that their leader had massacred a good number of Natural civilians who had nothing to do with the war. How can someone like that still remain in the military?" DaCosta said as he placed the file on the table.

"Who knows, we don't know what the higher-ups are thinking. All I know is that I'm not looking forward to working with them, especially their leader." Andrew said as he gets up from his seat and gazes the scene of his base from the window. 'Why have they suddenly released him from confinement? Is the top brass getting so desperate that they'd let out a psychopath? But what confuses me is why all this trouble for a single Mobile Suit called the Omni Gundam?' Andrew thought as he read the file again, the words 'Team Hunter' written on it.

Later, in the halls of the Archangel, a certain white dinosaur was walking through the halls, his claws making odd tapping noises against the metal. Then he suddenly stopped, turned around...and saw an empty hallway. Shrugging, he continued walking. Stopped. Then turned around again. Still nothing. Huckmon scratched his head in confusion but continued walking again.

"...you sure we should be doing this?" Kuzzey asked cautiously. As, from one of the turns, a certain group of teenagers peeked their heads out of their hiding spot. "It could be dangerous."

"But if Kira was telling the truth, then the little guy's been living in his room since Junius Seven. If it was dangerous don't you think it would have done something by now?" Tolle countered.

"Plus...it's kinda cute. I can see why Lieutenant La Flaga thought it was a stuffed animal," Miriallia couldn't help but say.

"Well...we're not gonna learn anything if we keep doing this," Sai sighed.

"You're also not gonna win any stealth awards since I can hear you all loud and clear. Ya know," Huckmon deadpanned.

"Gah!" the four of them jumped in surprise, quickly ending up in the middle of the hall, looking down at a rather annoyed looking Digimon.

"You four really shouldn't talk about people behind their backs. Don't think I don't know about all the times you've been second guessing Kira cause of that stupid word," Huckmon said flatly.

"W-What are you talking about?" Kuzzey asked

"Oh, don't try to play dumb with me," Huckmon glared. "'Will Kira really come back?' I heard one of his friends is with ZAFT', or my personal favorite, 'Coordinators really are different'," Huckmon listed off. "So let me get this straight. Kira's been your friend for how long, and just one little detail about him suddenly changes all that? No wonder we're having this idiotic war, if just one thing about a person automatically makes them a potential enemy even when they've done nothing to deserve it," Huckmon growled. "One thing I like about not having to hide anymore, is I've been wanting to say that to you for a while now."

The group tries to find a way to retort back, to prove the Digimon wrong, to maybe even call him out on talking about something he didn't understand. But as it was...they couldn't find a way to retort.

"Well? I'm waiting. What's your excuse?" Huckmon said, actually getting on his hind legs, front legs folded while one of his feet was tapping on the floor.

"Hey, what are you guys doing standing in the middle of the hallway?! You're gonna block someone's path!" Someone's voice shouted from behind the group, Huckmon was also surprised as it too, until they turned their gaze and saw Asher pushing some crates that were towering in front of him.

"A-Asher? What's with those crates?" Tolle asked

"Huh? Some supplies we got from the local resistance and some junks. I swear these people just randomly placed wherever they want and make a bloody mess with it. This is the 5th freaking time today I've been cleaning their mess!" Asher said as he grumbles until he saw Huckmon.

"Oh? Isn't that the doll that Kira owns? What is it doing here?" Asher asked

"I'm not a doll! Didn't you already know I'm a live Digimon?!" Huckmon said

"Well, I did. A few seconds ago from you." Asher said as he walks towards the Digimon and it backed away a little until Asher caught up with him. "Well, Huckmon was it?" Asher asked.

"Y-Yeah, what do you want? If it's a fight, I'm no pushover!" Huckmon said

"Nah, not that," Asher said as he bent down until he patted Huckmon's head with his right arm. "I'm just saying that it's dangerous to stand in the middle of the hallway, be a good Digimon and stay out of trouble. I'm sure Kira would want that." Asher said, before getting back up and walking forward with the supplies. "Oh and if you four have time to be gossiping again, help me with the supplies. ZAFT isn't gonna wait for us to be done chatting before they attack again!" Asher barked.

"Y-yes sir!" the four of them snapped to attention, before following after him, leaving one stunned Digimon to stand-alone in the hallway.

Huckmon just stood there for a good 5 minutes. "...what the heck just happened?" was all he could say as he idly touched the spot on his head. Did that human seriously pet him like he was a dog? "I know he's weird, but not this weird. If he tries that again next time, I'm gonna bite his hand," Huckmon grumbled in annoyance before leaving the hallway.

While back to Asher and the group, one of them raised up the courage and speak up, "Hey, Asher." It was from Sai.

"What?" Asher replied without looking at him behind.

"Did you hear what that...Huckmon said?" Sai asked

"You mean the part about you guys second thought Kira? Yeah, I heard them. Though, it's not very surprising considering the conflict right now." Asher said and at the same time, the group looked down feeling ashamed of themselves. Asher noticed this and sighed. "Look, I'm not gonna go and say 'Are you calling yourself his friend' or whatsoever. You people are smart enough to know that and all I'm gonna say is, there's nothing wrong with that." Asher said

The group surprised when they heard it, was it okay to doubt their friends in the first place? Asher saw their reaction and scratched his temple. "Okay, maybe I didn't say that correctly there," he sighed. "Let's just say it's human nature to have doubts about some things once a while. I mean you can't just come to the conclusion that the person you met is what you think they are. For example, you people see me as a good guy. But I'm actually a big jerk who loves to make people suffer. Something like that, if you know what I mean, get it?" Asher asked, but the group wore confused looks which made Asher wanted to pull his hair out.

"Okay, simplified! Long story short, it's okay to doubt whatever but think before making that conclusion, get it?! If not, I'm going to take the sledgehammer and smash this useless junk for recycling for my frustration!" Asher said

"W-We get it!" All of them replied they don't want to see this guy near sledgehammer when they're around, for their own safety. However, despite that, they couldn't help but smile a little. It was certainly unorthodox...but they realized that they did need this kick. They also silently agreed that when they got the chance, they had to apologize to Kira.

After a few hours, they had finally finished organized the supplies and some junks. The group had gone their ways leaving Asher alone in there until he makes sure everything is in order. "Good, now I only have to wait some time until those irresponsible people make a mess again. Until then, I guess I go outside to get some fresh air." Asher said as he stretches himself as he exited, as he stepped outside, he can see the sun had started to go down, no doubt that nighttime is coming soon.

Once he exited from the Archangel and sit on one of the wooden boxes, suddenly he heard his name being called out behind him. As he turned around he saw Cagalli rushing towards him with Kira followed behind him, Asher didn't see Renamon around as well.

"Is it true?" Cagalli asked

"What?" Asher asked back as he blinked his eyes

"That you threaten those Officers with a sledgehammer when they tried to giving Kira the death sentence?" Cagalli asked

Asher just stares blankly at Cagalli and later slowly turn his attention towards Kira who stepped back a little, while scratching his temple, turning his face away from Asher.

Asher just sighed, " Yeah, I guess. As for why I did that, I don't have any weapons and it's a good object for threatening. Besides, I was furious when they decided to interrogate Kira after all he had done for us. Also, holding a hostage who's a memorial representative of Junius Seven is just asking for ZAFT to pissed at us even more."

"But still, no one in their right mind would charge in with a sledgehammer, right?" Cagalli asked

"Uh…." was the awkward sound that came out of Kira's mouth.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Asher grumbled.

"Well uh...oh look at the time! I think it's time to feed Huckmon now, bye!" Kira quickly said before all but making a break for the ship.

"Well, that was a quick escape he made." Cagalli comment

"No objections. By the way, I've been meaning to ask you something." Asher said

"What is it?" Cagalli asked

"Where did you get that fox friend of yours? Just curious, you see." Asher said

"Well…" Cagalli sighed, before nodding. There really was no reason to hide it now. "It was back when I first joined the Desert Dawn."

(Flashback)

Cagalli growled as she and the rest of the Desert Dawn ducked for cover. Their initial strategy hadn't gone quite as planned. They had managed to take one of the BCUE, but the attack on the other 2 had failed to cripple them, and now they were going after them. As it was, they'd already used up the missile launchers they had brought, while the jeeps that had more launchers had been destroyed. "Dammit…!" she growled, before seeing an opening and running out, firing her rifle as she did.

Normally this would have been suicide, but incredibly, when she hit one of the BCUE at the joint...the joint promptly exploded. "What the-?!" she gasped, actually stopping in her run. However, she quickly snapped back to attention when her comrades warned her to be careful as the other BCUE had her in its sights. Acting quickly, they opened fire, hitting a part of the BCUE, which promptly exploded as well, as if the bullets had somehow penetrated the armor. However, the fact remained that this had given them the opening they needed, and capitalizing on it, they were able to turn the tide of battle around. What had originally seemed like a hopeless battle turned into a great victory.

It was later that evening, during the small celebration that Cagalli slinked away from the group. Walking back to the site of the battle she looked around. She remembered that during the fight, she thought she'd seen something. Something moving very quickly. It was then that she felt a presence. Someone was here. "Who are you?" she asked. "I remember seeing something earlier. You were helping us, weren't you?" No response. "I know you're here! So come out!"

"You're certainly a brave one, and not all humans are able to sense me." came a new female voice from right behind her. Despite herself, Cagalli jumped in surprise, turning around and on instinct, drew her gun. However what she saw was something she'd remember for the rest of her life. Standing there illuminated under the moonlight, was a fox, but no ordinary fox. It...no...she stood on two legs, standing as tall as Cagalli. Bright yellow fur covered most of her body with white fur around her paws, belly, chest, and the tip of her tail, a large tuft of white fur on her chest, and most notable of all was the magatama like a design on her thighs. Additionally on her arms were a pair of gloves that had the yin-yang symbol on them.

"W-what are you?" was all Cagalli could say, her eyes wide in surprise.

(flashback end)

"Wow, that must have been quite a shock," was all Asher could say, though inwardly he wanted to snicker a bit. It felt so...crazy, to think that the girl he met back in Heliopolis would go on to become a Chosen Child as well.

"It was," Cagalli admitted. "I mean, I seriously thought I'd lost it when I saw her the first time. Nobody in their right mind would expect to see a bipedal fox that could talk. Not to mention when she started shooting diamonds," Cagalli sighed, remembering the time after that. To say their partnership was...uneasy at first was an understatement. But as time went on, the two had grown to trust each other, Cagalli even confiding her secret to Renamon. It was probably around then that she gained her...Digivice, as Renamon called it. With that in mind, she pulled out her Digivice.

"But...we came to trust each other a lot after that. Truth be told, it's thanks to her I got that 'Goddess of Victory' title…" she said, her eyes softening fondly...until she realized what it was she just said.

"Huh...so it was thanks to Renamon?" Asher mused...then froze when he saw the glare Cagalli was shooting him.

"I trust you understand that this stays between us, capiche?" she said, the tone just TOO tranquil.

"R-right. In fact, this conversation never happened!" Asher nodded quickly.

"Good," Cagalli said as she grins with her teeth shown.

Meanwhile, somewhere on the desert where ZAFT's Lessep standby. On the outside of Lessep, Andrew stands in front of his soldiers, with DaCosta beside him, behind the soldiers were 3 units of BCUE standing.

"Everyone, we will now commence out attack on the resistance base," Andrew said, as the soldier remain still as they are. "They clearly overdid it last night, we must properly discipline these naughty children," Andrew said ()

DaCosta step forward and eyed on the soldiers, "Our target for this operation is a town called Tasil! All units, move on!" The soldiers later went to their position and three pilots boarded the BCUE and headed to their objective location. Andrew and DaCosta hopped in the jeep and headed to the operation location as well.

Later on, the sun had finally set, and the desert welcomed the night. The heat of the desert had replaced with the cold breeze, making the bonfire lighted up everywhere in the Desert Dawn camp.

Somewhere in the camp, the Archangel officers were sitting silently together with Sahib and other local resistance, in front of a bonfire while holding a mug of hot coffee. Murrue was worried about their current situation as right now, they will be having a hard time leaving the desert not without ZAFT attack and the slim probability of escaping safely. Mu turn his head to look at Murrue and he too wears the same worried look.

In Archangel, Kira was inside of Strike cockpit, working on his Mobile Suit programming. While Huckmon was sleeping with bubble formed from his nose as he snores behind his seat. As he done, he turns his head saw Huckmon still sleeping.

"I guess, he ate too much that makes him sleepy," Kira said as he slightly laughs sheepishly.

"Well, well. What are you doing this time?" Murdoch said as he took a peek at the Strike's opened cockpit only to find Kira was inside.

"Just properly programming yesterday's landing pressure on Strike. As Strike had not been adjusted for environment situation ever since the Heliopolis, I also adjusted for other environments too, although it's not tested yet." Kira said

"Heh, that very impressive, kid. Wish that kid Asher learn a thing or two." Murdoch said

Kira chuckled, "actually, it was Asher idea, and also it was thanks to him that I survived yesterday battle. If I was using Launcher pack, I would be gone by now."

"Hoh, is that so? I swear I could never understand that kid, it's like he's...an embodiment of weirdness. One moment, he's clumsy on that airlock part, and another moment he dares to enter the bridge with a sledgehammer, and now he seems capable of doing stuff he's bad at first now." Murdoch said as he scratches his head.

"Sad to say I'm not denying that too, hahaha," Kira said until Murdoch heard a loud snore behind Kira.

"What was that?" Murdoch asked

"Oh, that's Huckmon. He's sleeping right now." Kira said

"You mean the creature that's with you? I'm still can't really believe it, but it looks like they really can affect machinery from what I hear." Murdoch said

"Yeah, he pilots the Strike with me. Mainly the targeting system and some maneuvers, as well as erasing bugs that appear during battle. It's thanks to him that I can fight the way I want." Kira said

"I see. Well, I gotta go now. If you or your friend need anything, call me or the kid, seems like you and him are getting along nowadays." Murdoch said as he left.

As Murdoch left, the bubble snore Huckmon had snapped and he slowly woke up with a loud yawn. Kira turned around and smile at his partner, "Had a good nap?"

"Yeah, I guess. Did I hear you talking to someone just now?" Huckmon said as he wobbly trying to get himself up.

"Eh, with the Chief Engineer, Murdoch-san." Kira said

"I see," Huckmon said, just as he got up, a loud rumbling sound was heard inside the Strike cockpit. After a few second on silent, Huckmon finally broke the silence.

"I'm hungry," Huckmon said

"But you-" Kira started...before signing. "Nevermind. I almost forgot you had a big appetite." Kira said in defeat.

"That shows I'm still a growing mon!" Huckmon said proudly.

'I wonder if Digimon can achieve evolution from just eating?' Kira thought as he sweatdrop and sigh, he wondered if he'd be able to get another portion of food for his partner.

At the same time, Cagalli was walking with Asher behind her a few feet away as she tried to find Kira, while Asher without Cagalli knowing having conversation with Nanomon on his Digivice, treating it as a cell phone so no one would be able to see it, something about Kuwagamon data recovery was almost complete, Asher sighed in relief, at least the Digimon is fine and will visit later to find if Kuwagamon knows anything about the black chip.

"Hey, Cagalli. What are you doing? Have some food." A local resistance, seems to be around teenager sitting together with other local resistance in front of a bonfire, was greeting Cagalli.

"Ah, right," Cagalli said as she looks around. "Have you seen the pilot of the Earth Forces Mobile Suits?" Cagalli asked

"No, do you need to see him?" The teenager asked

"It's nothing that important. I just forgot to ask his full name again and something else." Cagalli said

"Huh? I thought you know that guy." The teenager said

"Eh?! Ah, well…..yeah, that right. It's true I know him from before." Cagalli said

"If it's Kira, he's probably inside the Strike tweaking around with the OS." Cagalli turned behind and saw it was Asher.

"R-Really? Thank you, I'll go there right now." Cagalli said as she started to run off.

"Whoa there, hold your horses. I don't think they allow someone other than personnel enter that battleship without permission." Asher said as he instinctively grabbed her hand without knowing.

"Hey, keep your hands off her!" The teenager suddenly stood up, as well as the local resistance that sits beside him.

"Huh?" Asher blinked his eyes and saw he was holding the girl's hand. "Oops, sorry. I didn't notice I was holding your hand" Asher said as he quickly let it go, but fate today seem to hate him today because of the sudden let go from Asher, she falls on the ground with her butt, the teenager and the local resistance who sit beside him charged at him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Asher shouts as he dodges three of them. "Hey, what's the big deal trying to gang on me?!" Asher said as he's a bit pissed off.

"How dare you hurt Cagalli, you Earth Alliance dog!" the teenager charged right at Asher but he dodges it successfully until the teenager trip and falls his face on the ground flat. The other three circled around him as they charge together, unfortunately for them Asher trip one of them, making two of them knock out from their headbutts, and another one tripping over a pile of empty boxes.

"Jeez, it's just only a day and I'm already getting into trouble. Sigh, you okay there, Cagalli? Sorry, it was unintentional, I swear," Asher said as he walks towards her.

"I'm fine. I just lose my balance." Cagalli said as she got herself up, when she faces forward, her eyes widen in surprise. "Ahmed, stop!"

The teenager called Ahmed, holding what seems to be a wooden plank had jumped behind Asher, seemingly trying to lay a fatal blow on his head. In split second, the sound of wood snapped is a piece of with was twirling in the air until it dropped on the ground.

At the same time, Ahmed landed on the ground with his butt, terrified of what had happened just now. Asher had delivered a back kick which almost aimed for his head replaced by the snapped wooden plank.

"I won't do that if I were you, I'm especially sensitive when someone approaching behind me within range," Asher said as he retracts his leg and walks towards Cagalli. "So, you still want to see Kira? If that so, better come with me." Asher said as he walks away.

"Ah, wait for me!" Cagalli said as she catches up, only this time she approaches him with some distance and walks beside him.

"W-What is he?!" Ahmed asked himself. Until a footstep is heard behind him and saw a well build man behind him, staring down at him.

At the same time, on the cliff near a town called Tasil, Andrew and his soldier are on standby waiting for his operation as his schedule where the town will sleep

"Sir, it's time," DaCosta said.

"I see, some people prefer for these people to sleep eternally, but I'm not that kind of person," Andrew said

"Sir?" DaCosta said as he didn't get what his superior mean.

"Send them a warning for evacuation, in 15 minutes we will launch an attack." Andrew gave an order.

"Yes, sir!" DaCosta said as he and another soldier drove a jeep towards Tasil.

"I don't really want to do this, but at least there won't be unnecessary civilians death." Andrew said as he looks at the dark night sky, "What a mess up world we're living, huh." Andrew said as he keeps staring the stars blinkering in the night.

Later on, at the Desert Dawn camp. Asher had bought Cagalli into the Archangel, weirdly enough Kira had gone out to feed Huckmon as that Digimon got tired of bread. Asher wanted to dive into the cyberspace but was called by Murdoch to help out loaded some extra supplies from the local resistance, thankfully no one is bothering him about that fight early and didn't see that guy named Ahmed around.

"Man, we sure stocked up pretty much today. Thankfully, many helped out or I won't be able to catch some sleep." Asher said as he wipes his sweat on his forehead. He decided to take a break on on the hill to have a break as he watches the start at the sky.

"It's been a long time since I see stars at night, back home it's rare to see this. Reminds me of when my parents and I went on vacation somewhere and coincidentally looked at the star." Asher said as he remembers his time at home.

"I've been here for quite long….I wonder how is everyone doing? Asher asked but knows no one will able to answer him. " I have to find a way back home….but I can't just leave things like this, not to mention I had no clue how to go back in the first place," Asher sigh.

"Asher? What are you doing here?" Asher turned and saw it was Kira, and noticed that Huckmon wasn't with him.

"Hey there. Nothing really, just chilling up here and watch the stars." Asher said as he turns back to watch the stars again.

Kira blinked his eyes, decided to walk towards him and join him watching the stars too. "It's pretty." Kira comment.

"I know, right? When I was little, I asked my parents that if there were diamonds up in the sky during night time. Not sure where that came from, though." Asher said as he remembered back when he was a little boy where he watches the stars outside from the Nakano Broadway and asked his parents if there's a diamond in the sky?

"Really?" Kira asked he find it surprising.

"Yep, and when I knew what was it later, it was really embarrassing thinking back," Asher said as he scratches his temple in embarrassment.

"Hahaha, that sounded really cute." Kira teased

"Am I starting to go insane or did I just hear Kira is trying to tease me?" Asher asked.

It wasn't long before they suddenly burst out laughing at their own weirdness. "Man, we're getting weird lately. Did we eat something wrong?" Asher asked

"I thought it was you who infected me," Kira said

"I take that as a joke, Kira," Asher said.

"By the way, I heard that you had a fight with one of the locals? I find it hard to imagine that you started it….well kind of." Kira said.

"It was just a misunderstanding, really. Although, these people seem very protective of her. Probably because of her being their Goddess of Victory." Asher said as he noticed what he just blurted out, he quickly closed his mouth.

"Goddess of Victory?" Kira asked

"If you know what's good for you, better forget about it. I mean it, Kira." Asher said

"O-okay. I also heard you kind of….scared them. What did you do?" Kira asked.

"Oh, I kind of broke the wooden plank that's trying to hit my head with my back kick," Asher said as he shrugs.

"B-back kick?" Kira asked as he surprised.

"Yeah, I've learned martial arts ever since I was a kid. Well, my father said that I look like a prime target for bullies and insisted on toughening me up, not to mention he's very protective of me but I had no complaints, and my mum said that as a man I need to learn how to keep myself safe, so I got enrolled in some dojo and learned how to defend myself but I stopped when I entered high school," Asher said

"Mostly because of how I look, I've gotten attacked from behind many times before. So, my body kind of develop some natural self-defense if someone approaching from behind till my personal space, I will either kick the face or shoulder throw them, be it my friends or anyone, except for my parents of course." Asher said

"I see, I'm glad I called you before I approached you," Kira said, mentally note himself not to approach Asher from behind. He needs to inform this to his friends and Lieutenant or anyone.

Before Asher said anything, both he and Kira saw some commotion happened around the camp. Both boys unsure what's going on, both of them headed down towards the camp.

While on their way, they saw several jeeps had left the camp, filled with Desert Dawn members armed with launchers, what surprised them, even more, is that they saw Cagalli with them drive past through them.

"Is that Cagalli we saw just now? What's going on?" Kira asked

"Beats me. Kira, you better head back to Archangel and get the Strike ready. If the locals head out, it means there might be ZAFT activity nearby." Asher said

"Are we being attacked?" Kira asked

"I don't know. You head back first, once I find the captain, I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Hurry!" Asher said as Kira nodded his head and run back to the Archangel. At the same time, Asher headed to the camp to find the officers, luckily he manages to find them in short time, but their worried look as well as Sahib, the local leader wear.

"Captain! Finally found you, the locals suddenly drove off. What is going on?" Asher asked

"It's ZAFT, they just attacked one of our based in our town, Tasil." Sahib said

"A town? You mean they attacked a town where people are in it?!" Asher asked

"No, The Desert Tiger is not the force that uses barbarian tactics in warfare. Our scouts and member in there just reported that there are no casualties after the evacuation." Sahib said

"If there are no casualties, and the people had been warned of the attack, the Desert Dawn members on jeep just now is…..!" Asher gasped as he realized the main purpose.

"What's wrong?" Natarle asked

"Seems like you noticed, boy," Sahib said

"Call them back, leader! At this rate, they'll get slaughtered!" Asher said as the three officers were surprised and shocked looking at the boy.

"I tried but these young fools decided to head out without listening first!" Sahib said

"What do you mean, Asher?" Murrue asked

"Damn, I have to get to Kira!" Asher said as he rushed out, without any delay, his digivice materialized from his palm and opened voice communication towards the Strike. "Kira, can you hear me?"

"Asher, how? Where are you calling from?" Kira asked in surprise. There was no way he'd already gotten into the ship.

"There's no time, launch the Strike! At this rate, Cagalli and the rest will be killed!" Asher said

"What?! What do you mean? You know what happened when we helped Lacus out, I can't-"

"Screw the permission! Do you want to see Cagalli and those people return as corpses? Even with Renamon is with her, it's too much for her to handle alone! You're the only one who can make it in time! Don't waste it! I will take the blame, so go now!" Asher said

Kira went silent for a while, "Let's go, Huckmon!"

"Right on, partner!" Huckmon said

Asher disperse his Digivice after that, as he quickly ran towards the Archangel, he saw the Strike had moved out with the Aile pack. Asher quickly went into one of the monitors and attempted to connect jump into the cyberspace so that he can be turned into Omni Gundam as the engineering crew all focused on the leaving Strike, but what happens later is unexpected. The familiar pain had started to travel around his body, the same pain as he experienced when he tried to transform into Omni Gundam before.

Asher screamed in pain as his body flickered in static showing his Gundam and human form repeatedly. Before he falls unconscious and dropped on the floor, he cursed himself, unaware that Kira group had found Asher suddenly unconscious on the floor and had taken to the infirmary.

"Faster Huckmon, faster!" Kira urged the Strike flew at easily twice its normal speed.

"Sorry buddy, I'm already diverting as much power as I can to the thrusters. This is as fast as we're gonna go in the atmosphere. Anything more and we risk compromising the weapon systems!" Huckmon reported. As it was, they were trying to catch up to the Desert Dawn before they got themselves killed. Even if they'd done well so far, there was no way they'd last long against those BCUEs with just a jeeps and missiles. As if on cue, an explosion was heard from further up ahead. "You ready for this, Kira?" Huckmon gulped slightly, steeling himself for what was to come. Kira just wordlessly nodded.

However, the scene they came upon when they reached the site of the battle was...not what they expected. One of the BCUE, or rather, what was left of it, was on the ground looking like it had been hit with a massive flamethrower, two of its limbs having been disconnected from the main body in the explosion, while up ahead they could see the remaining ZAFT forces retreating. "Did they...actually win?" Huckmon blinked.

Kira likewise surveyed the scene, before frowning sadly. "No...no they didn't."

Down on the ground, they several jeeps scattered about, the bodies of their passengers strewn around, no doubt dead if the burns on them were any indication. Among the surviving jeeps, they saw Cagalli looking over one of the dead bodies, while a large fox with nine tails was at her side, rubbing its head against her comfortingly.

*to be continue*


	15. Meeting with the Desert Tiger

Hello everyone, sorry I took too long, well you know busy with real life etc and shitty part I can't access this page from my laptop (even on my house PC for some reason)

As usual, please enjoy yourself.

Kira positioned the Strike for a landing, the mobile suit touching down not far from the remaining members of the Desert Dawn. Wordlessly, he disconnected his Digivice, Huckmon going inside it without a word either. Deploying the zip line, they descended from the Strike, before walking towards the Desert Dawn. Kira frowned as he looked around, and asked, "Are you trying to get killed?" his voice neutral and without emotion. "In a place like this? There's absolutely no reason to."

"What did you say?!" Cagalli growled. "You bastard! Look!" she shouted, gesturing to Ahmed's body. "We all fought desperately! We're all fighting desperately! All to protect the things and people that mean so much to us!"

Kira grit his teeth at her words, before slapping her, causing her to let go. At the same time, the large nine tailed Fox growled, stepping forward. However…

"Don't even think about it," Huckmon said, suddenly materializing and landing on her back. "Your partner needs to learn how to take her lumps. You can defend her all you want but you know as well as I do that this wouldn't have happened if some people hadn't charged in guns blazing," he said, to which the fox growled, but ultimately didn't say a thing, knowing he was right.

"What the hell can you protect with just your feelings?!" Kira shouted, before averting his eyes a little. His mind going back to the person who'd saved them time and time again, yet now...he was nowhere to be seen after he saved them in the atmosphere.

Meanwhile, the retreating ZAFT forces had made it back to their ship, leaving Andrew alone inside of his office watching a video recording of the battle earlier before he ordered his force to retreat. The Desert Tiger was particularly curious about the recordings that depicted a nine-tailed fox destroying one of their BCUE. Andrew had to admit, he wanted to know more, such as how the resistance came into possession of this creature. More importantly, what is that creature to begin with? He'd heard about mythology concerning mysterious creatures, the nine-tailed fox being one such notable legend, but Andrew was pretty sure it was just a man-made belief with no solid evidence.

Andrew sighed after the recording ended and he pressed the replay button again as he lost count of how many times he'd replayed the recording. He was so focused on it that he didn't even notice the knocking on his door, which soon opened to reveal a beautiful lady with long black hair and with orange bangs on both sides, dressed in a beautiful blue skin tight dress.

"Andy?" She called, but Andrew did not respond. "Andy!" She called again, this time raising her voice as she placed her hands on her hips, but the Desert Tiger still not respond and was still fixed on the screen. Feeling annoyed at being ignored, she walks towards Andrew, who miraculously still had not noticed the lady inside of his office until he felt his right ear being pinched.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch! Aisha?! What are you doing?" Andrew said, surprised to see his lover suddenly beside him.

"I've been here for the last few minutes and I called you twice, but you didn't answer me. It's rather rude to treat a lady like that." Aisha said as she huffed away while letting go fo Andrew's ear.

"Sorry, I was too focused on watching some battle footage we recovered," Andrew said as he rubbed his slightly swollen ear.

"Oh? It better be not another video of some bikini girl at the beach like the last time." Aisha said as she takes a look at the screen, to which Andrew chuckled at the expression she gained the moment she saw the nine-tailed fox that had literally roasted a BCUE.

"Still thinking I'm looking at bikini girls at the beach?" Andrew asked with a grin.

"Andy? What did I just see?" Aisha asked as her eyes were still fixed on the screen.

"That's what I'd like to know too," Andrew said. "That fox-like creature suddenly appeared out of nowhere and just barbecued one of our BCUE when we counterattacked the resistance that's chasing us," Andrew said.

"So you're telling me this fox is related to the resistance somehow?" Aisha asked

"Probably, but one thing I know for sure," Andrew said as he replayed the footage and sped up the video until he stopped at certain a part that revealed Cagalli in the jeep. "That the fox and this person here are related somehow to the way that fox had been guarding them the entire time."

"You seem to be enjoying this, Andy." Aisha said

"Heheh, well can't help it. First the Strike pilot and now this fox creature. I'm already curious how this "Omni Gundam" that's been giving Creuset a hard time will fare. This is getting interesting, don't you think so Aisha?" Andrew asked as he hugged his lover's waist

"I have to admit, I'm curious and interested as well." Aisha said as she wrapped her arms around her lover's neck.

Later, Kira and the survivors of the Desert Dawn had just returned to their camp. The resistance quickly bring in the wounded to tend their injury, Kira looked at Cagalli from his cockpit monitor, deep inside he can't help but feel sorry for her losing a lot of her comrade in arms and a little bit of guilt that he had slapped her, even though he knew it was the right thing to do.

Kira unboarded the Strike after he docked it inside the hangar. Looking around, he noticed that Asher is not around, which was odd since he knew the guy was not a slacker. He had to find him and tell him that Cagalli was safe for now. "I better let him know first," Kira said as he looked around but no luck.

"Excuse me, have you seen Asher?" Kira asked one of the engineering crew.

"Huh? Oh yeah, you were not around before. He's in the infirmary right now." the engineer said

"Eh? What happened? Did something happen to him?" Kira worriedly ask.

"We suddenly heard a scream and found out the boy suddenly on the floor unconscious. Your friends found him first before our guys did. I think the doctor must be done by now, so go for it. We'll handle it from here." The engineer said as he patted Kira's shoulder and walked away. Without any delay, Kira quickly rushed towards the infirmary and saw his friends were waiting outside, to which they soon noticed him coming.

"Is Asher alright?" Kira asked worriedly.

"Well, the Doctor said he was going to take a look at Asher, but…" Tolle seemed uncertain.

"I told you already doc, I'm fine!" came Asher's voice from inside the infirmary, causing all of them to gain huge sweat drops.

"He sure sounds fine…" they all couldn't help but say...in perfect sync. The scary part, they honestly couldn't find it in them to be surprised anymore.

"You still need to stay in bed! You just had high fever an hour ago! I still need to perform a full check up on you." They can hear the doctor argue from the outside.

"And I keep telling you, I feel great! It was probably nothing at all!" Asher retorted.

"Well, something about you suddenly collapsing doesn't seem 'feeling great' as you said. Be good and stay in bed, doctor's order." The doctor said.

"Does this look like someone who's in bad health?" Asher countered.

"Wha-? Stop that! The infirmary isn't a gy-! Will you stop before you hurt yourself already?!" the Doctor shouted.

The collective sweat drops grew larger when they heard something crash inside…

"Uh…." Kira started, but he honestly had no idea what to say… Fortunately, it seemed that issue was taken out of his hands when Asher walked out of the infirmary.

"Uh...you guys probably don't want to go in there right now," was all he said as he walked away.

The group of friends fought down a morbid sense of curiosity. On one hand, they wanted to know what happened, on the other hand, they weren't sure they wanted to know. They were just about to decide to walk away when… "Gah! I gotta know what happened!" Huckmon said, jumping out of his Digivice and opening the door...and heard a string of curses that could make a sailor blush coming from the Doctor in the room. The group, Huckmon included, did the smart thing and ran away.

Asher frowned from his seat in the back of the jeep. "Remind me again why I have to come along?" he grumbled, seeing as he wasn't really all that interested in going into town, but he'd been all but ordered to do so.

"Because you shouldn't spend all your time catering to your OCD, and the Doctor wanted to wring your neck for what you did in the infirmary," Mu deadpanned. "So relax and enjoy your day in town with your Auntie Natarle, as well as your cousins Kira and Cagalli."

"What I don't get is why I can't come along," Huckmon said from his spot near the Archangel.

"Because the captain didn't want ZAFT to potentially find out more about Digimon," Kira reminded his partner. "Don't worry, we shouldn't be taking long," he reassured.

"Fine…" Huckmon sighed but didn't argue any further. "In return, get some food from wherever you're heading. I need to taste something different, or else eating just the food from the ship and camp is gonna make my taste buds go numb." Huckmon grumbled.

"I'll see what I can find," Kira nodded.

With that, the jeep drove off into the desert, heading off somewhere. "So, uncle Kisaka. Where are we heading?" Asher asked, earning a weird look from Cagalli in the cramped space.

"We're headed to a nearby town to get supplies for your ship and for the people of Tasil." Kisaka replied normally.

"I see," Asher said, he looked away at the vast desert land. 'I hope we don't run into trouble. If what I suspect is correct, ZAFT might be expecting us, but I don't have enough evidence. I just need to be extra careful for now.' Asher thought as the jeep continued to drive through the desert.

Before long they had arrived at their destination, the teenagers getting off from the jeep. "So, see you in exactly four hours," Cagalli said to Kisaka.

"Be careful," Kisaka said

"I know. You too. Al-Jairi is one person we can't let our guard down against, right?" Cagalli replied.

"Ensign Yamato- I mean-." Natarle realized that right now they are undercover as civilians, "I mean, enjoy your time together. I'm counting on you." Natarle said as she blushed as the jeep drove off.

Asher just blinked his eyes, trying to proceed what just happened and couldn't help but elbow on Kira's arm. "Kira, did I just saw our Ice Queen had a blush on her face a few seconds ago? What kind of magic did you cast on her?" Asher asked

"Let's just go now." Kira sigh as he doesn't feel like answering that question.

'Hey, come back here!" Asher shouted as he chased after both Kira and Cagalli. Both of them continued to shop for supplies, mainly food and medicine. Cagalli was in charge of the list, while the boys were assigned to holding their groceries naturally. While they were walking through, Asher noticed Kira seemed a bit...absent-minded. "Something bothering you?"

"Oh uh...it's nothing," Kira said. "I guess its just...is this really a ZAFT occupied town? It seems so...peaceful."

"Come with me!" Cagalli said as she walked away, both Asher and Kira looked at each other before following her until they reached a crater caused by an explosion with debris scattered everywhere. The boy gasped, surprised looks on their face.

"It may look peaceful, but looks can be is the ruler of this city," Cagalli said as she points out the Lessep ship. "Anyone who rebels is mercilessly killed. This place belongs to ZAFT, to the Desert Tiger." Cagalli finished unaware that someone was watching over them.

"So...looks can be deceiving huh?" Asher said and suddenly he felt that someone is eyeing on them, he turns around to see anyone suspicious.

"What wrong?" Cagalli asked

"No, it's nothing. Just looking around." Asher said as he shook his head. He looked around and noticed a guy with a hat and sunglasses while holding a folded newspaper in one hand. Not wanting to cause any unnecessary problems, he quickly looked away and continued with their shopping and prayed that the man was not a ZAFT soldier in disguise.

After an hour or two shopping, they finally have gotten what they need. Cagalli decided that now it's the right time to have some lunch, she recommended a restaurant that has nice Kebab nearby. As they had arrived, Asher noticed a stall that caught his attention.

"Sorry, you two go ahead. I'll be right back shortly." Asher said as he dropped off the goods besides their seat.

"Where are you going?" Cagalli asked

"Just a quick shop on one of the stall that catches my eye, that's all. Oh, and Kira." Asher looks at Kira with a mischievous grin before he forgets.

"What?" Kira asked

"Take this chance to know a girl personally, hahahahaha!" Asher said as he quickly left the two blushing teenagers on their seat.

"Er...shall we order?" Kira asked as he looked away, feeling embarrassed from what Asher said just now.

"Y-yeah, I'll handle it. Excuse me, waiter!" Cagalli called and they ordered the food. Before long, their orders had arrived, Kira blinked his eyes looking at the food in question in front of him.

"What is this?" Kira asked.

"It's called Doner Kebab! Phew, I'm tired and starving already. Let's eat, Kira. First, add some of this chili sauce." Cagalli said as she held a bottle of chili sauce until the sound of footsteps approached their table.

"Stop right there! Wait a moment!" a stranger's voice was heard and both teenagers looked around until they found out it was the man with hat and sunglasses that Asher saw early.

"How could you add chili sauce to a Kebab?! The proper way is to add some of this yogurt sauce!" The top hat man said as he pointed at the bottle of yogurt sauce he took from the table.

"Huh?" Cagalli felt annoyed by some stranger suddenly coming to their table and spouting nonsense.

"No, rather than saying it's the proper way...how should I put it? Right! Not adding yogurt sauce to this dish is a sacrilege against Doner Kebab!" The man said as he pointed the tip of the bottled sauce towards Kira.

"What's wrong with you?!" Cagalli asked the man, "You have no right to walk up to strangers and tell them how to eat!" Cagalli said as she faced Kira while she squeezed the chili sauce bottle which caused the man gasp and she ate it.

"Argh! What a waste!" The man said as he cringed away.

"Delicious!" Cagalli said

Kira was unsure what to respond as he was now suddenly faced with two bottles of sauce, with the two in front of him arguing over which was better until both sauces ended up being poured on Kira's Kebab. At the same time, Asher arrived while holding a box with food ingredients.

"Hey, I'm back!" Asher called and noticed the same man he saw before was at their table. He frowned a little and turned back to normal when the man looked at him. Asher blinked when he saw both Cagalli and the man holding the sauce bottles and he gazed at Kira's Kebab.

"What is going on here?" was all Asher could say in utter confusion.

"Asher! You've come right on time! Tell this man that Kebab and chili sauce are made for each other!" Cagalli said as she pointed the chili sauce bottle at the man's face.

"No, don't listen to her! The yogurt sauce is the only fitting sauce for Kebab. Don't follow her bad habit!" The man said as he did the same as well.

"Huh? Well, I'll go for both personally. They taste better together for me." Asher said he put his groceries down and took a seat. "Waiter! Some water please!"

Both Cagalli and the man blinked their eyes in confusion. Kira decided to just start eating seeing as he was hungry anyway. He took a bite and commented it was not bad, before remembering that he needed to buy food for Huckmon as well. "Sorry, waiter! Can we have another Doner Kebab to go? Thank you!" Kira called out.

"But look at the shopping you kids did. Are you having a party or something?" The man asked as he casually took a seat nearby.

"Shut up, it's none of your business! Who are you anyway to casually sit at our table and lecture us?!" Cagalli said while Asher was silently sipping on his water, trying to keep an eye on the man in case he tried anything.

In a split second, Asher's sense of hearing suddenly enhanced and he heard a weird sound coming towards them fast. He looked up unconsciously activating his enhanced sight and saw a rocket heading their way. Before he could act, the man with a hat and sunglasses told them to get down and kicked the table up as the rocket hit the restaurant.

The four of them took cover behind the table the man just flipped. Kira was holding Cagalli whose head had been covered by the sauce during the chaos. "W-What was that?" Cagalli asked

"Where's Asher?" Kira asked as he noticed his friend is not around, and with the smoke cutting visibility, he couldn't see anything.

"Oh no, you don't think he got hurt?" Cagalli asked. Not before long they able to hear gunfire aiming towards them.

"Don't worry, I saw that dark blue haired friend of yours duck the other way in time. Are you two alright?" The man as he loaded an Uzi gun in his hand. Both Kira and Cagalli were quite surprised to see the man had a gun in his possession, but they couldn't say anything about that on account of...

"Die Coordinator! You monsters from the skies!" one man said as he started shooting his gun while running towards them.

"For the preservation of our blue and pure world!" said another man who fired into the sky.

"They're Blue Cosmos!" Cagalli gasped.

"No shit! I know they are a crazy bunch, but who in their right mind attacks like a bunch of terrorists?! Do they even know what they're talking about saying a 'blue and pure world'?" The teenagers heard a familiar voice and they saw Asher was taking cover behind one of the tables beside them.

"Asher! You alright?!" Kira asked

"Yeah, close call I dare to say! Almost got myself blown up if hadn't moved just in time!" Asher said as he saw one of them is coming towards him.

"Asher, look out!" Cagalli called

"Damn!" The man quickly aimed but the attacker was too near towards Asher's position, and the Uzi was not ideal in its precision.

"Die!" The attacker aimed the gun at Asher.

"No thanks!" Asher said as he quickly pushed the table away to create a small distraction to which he delivered a punch to the man's stomach and quickly grabbed his arm leading a shoulder throw after the man had dropped his gun from the pain, knocking him unconscious. Another man tried to grab him from behind, but Asher instinctively back kicked the man knocking him into a nearby window.

"Damn you, kid!" Asher noticed another attacker readying his gun and firing. Without thinking Asher unconsciously activated his enhanced sight, allowing him to see the incoming bullets. He quickly dashed towards the attacker, a shot managing to graze his left cheek and left shoulder. When the assailant noticed he ran out of ammo, Asher unconsciously delivered a karate chop with his left hand, knocking the gun from his assailant's grip, the force surprising the armed man. At the same time, his body flickered into his Gundam statically without anyone noticing, except for the man in front of Asher, and Kira who rubbed his eyes as he saw something that looked like a cape fluttering behind Asher, as well as how he felt the way Asher stood and swung his hand in a chop seem familiar somehow.

"Hiyaaa!" Asher cried as he punched the man's stomach, making him drop to his knees, before delivering a dropkick with his right leg and knocked him out.

The man with a hat and sunglasses whistled after he saw what Asher had just done while he continued to shoot the Blue Cosmos member. He didn't notice an armed man aimed at him, Kira noticed it and he found a handgun on the group, he quickly grabbed it and threw it towards the man like a boomerang, before he runs towards him and kicked him unconscious.

"Okay, it's over!" Someone said as a man approached the unconscious Blue Cosmos member and shot his head, effectively killing him which made Kira flinch.

"You don't know how to use a gun?" Cagalli asked as she walked towards Kira.

"Not everyone on our age knows how to use a gun, Cagalli. If I were Kira, I'll do that as well." Asher said as he walked up to them while holding his wrist and noticed his left cheeks and his left shoulder had bled.

"I should ask you, what are you thinking approaching an armed man like that?! If you're not careful, you'll get shot!" Cagalli said

"Let's just say, my survival instinct is activated and I don't want to die." Asher simply said as he wipes his blood off, he needs to find a bandage. "Well, whatever the case…." Asher said as he turned towards the man with hat and sunglasses as he folded his arms.

"Commander!" A uniformed soldier approached the man. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm alright. Thanks to those kids." The man said as he turned to them and took off his sunglasses and hat which shows his face.

"A-Andrew Waltfeld?" Cagalli asked

"Huh?" Both boys asked

"The Desert Tiger."

"Boy, you saved my life!" Andrew said as he approached them. "Thank you," Andrew said with a small grin on his face.

'Great, looks like my suspicion that he's a ZAFT soldier was correct, but the Commander in charge?! We have no choice but to follow him with his men around.' Asher thought as he grit his teeth until he saw one of the soldiers trying to pick up his groceries.

"Hey! Keep your filthy gunpowder covered hands away from that! It's hard to get those ingredients fresh!" Asher shouted at the ZAFT soldier who took a step back from the sudden outburst.

"W-What?!" the soldier backed away in surprise after hearing Asher's sudden outburst.

"Oi, Asher! What are you doing?!" Cagalli said as she tried to catch him but Asher had left and picked up his grocery and checked the contents.

"Phew, glad I closed them up when I arrived. At least I don't have to worry about them being spoiled." Asher said himself. Asher then proceeded to check on the rest of his groceries, ignoring the soldier telling him to back off, until a soldier tried to grab him from behind.

"Ah, wait! Don't approach him from behind!" Kira tried to warn him but it was too late as the poor soldier had been knocked unconscious from Asher's back kick against his stomach, sending the soldier flying a few feet away from Asher. Kira immediately smacked his forehead, while Cagalli had a bewildered look on her face and Andrew had an amused one.

Asher noticed himself and turned around just to see an unconscious soldier behind him, "We're so screwed now." Asher said as he sweatdropped.

"Why you!" One of the men readied his gun to shot him.

"Lay down your arms, men! Are you trying to kill one of the kids who saved my life?" Andrew asked,

"But sir, that boy just-"

"His friend tried to warn him but it was too late. I'm guessing your friend over there has some natural reflex reaction whenever someone approaches him from behind, yes?" Andrew asked as he looks at Kira.

"Ah, yes...he did it to one of our friends as well," Kira replied.

"See? It was unintentional. Pick up their stuff, the lovely lady over there needs some cleaning up. You two come with me as well." Andrew said as several jeeps arrived at the scene. The teenagers didn't say anything but one glance at them and they mentally agreed, they were in deep trouble.

Before long they had arrived at a mansion which seemed to belong to the ZAFT military forces with both soldiers and Mobile Suits standing guard. "We've arrived. Please come with me." Andrew said as he gets off.

"No, we really need to go now." Kira tried to make an escape but it was futile.

"Nonsense, not only did I interrupt your meal and had you save me, but she got sauce all over her clothes. As a gentleman, I can't allow you to return like this, okay? I just wouldn't feel right." Andrew said with a small grin, while Cagalli avoided making eye contact with anyone, and Asher was trying to observe his surrounding.

Kira looked conflicted as he wasn't sure what to do in this situation. Kira noticed that Asher placed his hand on his shoulder and nodded at him. Kira nodded in understanding. They had to do as Andrew says for now.

They entered the mansion and were told directions by the soldiers stationed inside, to which they followed until they reached a room and saw Aisha waiting for them. The teenagers were surprised at the sudden appearance of the beautiful woman in front of them. "Is this the girl, Andy?"

"Yeah, do what you can to clean her up. She got chili and yogurt sauce, as well as tea on her." They could hear Andrew's voice in a room where Aisha stood outside.

"Oh my, you were having Kebab, weren't you?" Aisha asked as she approached Cagalli, the older woman taking a closer look at Cagalli. 'So, this girl is related to the fox creature somehow? She's cute though. Alright, then.' Aisha quickly straightened herself out before nodding her head.

"Here, come with me. We need to get you cleaned up and get you some new clothes first." Aisha said as she leads Cagalli with her somewhere.

"C-Cagalli!" Kira quickly tried to chase them, not enjoying the idea of leaving the girl alone in enemy territory.

"Don't worry. We'll be done in no time! Why not wait with Andy inside? I'm sure he'll enjoy company with you boys." Aisha said as she left the hallway with Cagalli. Kira wanted to give chase but was stopped by Asher when he held his shoulder.

"Best not make a scene, Kira. I'm sure they won't hurt Cagalli for now." Asher whispered.

"But-"

"Hey, this way!" Both boys heard Andrew calling them from the room they stood in front of. Kira looked at the exit that was guarded.

"Let's go, Kira," Asher said as he went in, Kira followed into the room. Inside they saw Andrew in front of a table which caught Asher attention.

"Huh? Is that equipment for coffee brewing? Now that I think about it, it's been awhile since I brewed some coffee." Asher said

"Oh? Now that's rare, it's uncommon that someone your age knows how to brew coffee." Andrew said, his tone surprised.

"Yeah, my mum always experiments with it and I got interested. I admit it's kind of fun mixing stuff to pursue different tastes for coffee. Now that I think about it, I just thought of a new recipe for my groceries." Asher said

"Hahaha! Not only did you save my life, but I managed to find a fellow coffee brewer! Today is a good day! Do you want to brew it? I'm interested in what you're making." Andrew said

"Sure, if you don't mind me borrowing your equipment and my stuff from the jeep," Asher said

"I just tell my soldiers to get it for you boy," Andrew said as he used the comms. "Yeah, it's me. Sorry, can you bring their grocery boxes inside? Just bring all of them, let's just say I manage to find someone with the same interest in coffee." Andrew said as he closed the call.

"Well then, you two make yourselves at home. Have a seat." Andrew said as he leads them to the sofa. The two did as they were told until Kira stopped to see a weird stone with what looked like the fossil of a whale...if whales had wings that is.

"That's a weird looking fossil there. Is it a whale?" Asher asked as he peeked over Kira's shoulder. "Wait, are those wing bones on it?" Asher asked as he took a closer look.

"It's called Evidence 01." Andrew answer as he walked towards them and stood beside the stone fossil as he faced the teenage boys. "Have you two ever seen the real thing before?"

"If you mean a normal whale? Yes. A whale with wings...nope," Asher deadpanned.

"Hahahaha! That's a good one, boy. But tell the truth, even I have no idea why they call this thing a whale stone. Does it look like a whale to you?" Andrew asked

"Well, I can't say for sure…" Kira said. At the same time, the door opened revealed a soldier carrying a box, which Asher instantly recognized as his groceries.

"I thought you said to bring them all?" Asher asked Andrew. "But it doesn't matter, most of the stuff I want is in that box anyway," Asher said as he walked over to the soldier and thanked him before he held his box. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be right back," Asher said as he left Kira and Andrew to start his experiment.

"Heh, well I can't wait to see what sort of coffee he'll make. But back to the topic, no matter how you look at it, it does look like it has wings. Like your friend said just now, normally whales don't have wings, do they?" Andrew asked

"Well, no they don't, normally," Kira replied. "But this is supposed to be proof that extraterrestrial creatures have visited Earth before." Kira finished

"Hm, but my point is, why is it a whale?" Andrew asked

"What would be a better name for it?" Kira asked

"Hm, nothing really comes to mind, frankly," Andrew said

"I call dibs on Winged Marine!" Asher said behind them while he's brewing the coffee without looking at them, "I mean it's no doubt a marine life form and since we don't know if it's a whale, it could be related to flying fish Exocoetidae in some other way. Judging from the body mass and the wing bones, I say they'de be able to leap through the water surface to far distance in a single leap, thanks to those wings I say around 2 kilometers at least? Though if that happens, better stay away from the beach as it could create a small tsunami." Asher said

Everyone...just stared at him like he'd grown a second head. "Is he...always like this?" Andrew asked.

"All...the...time…" Kira let out a long sigh.

"I feel your pain," was all Andrew could say.

"You know I can hear you from here!" Asher retorted until he noticed the coffee he's making is almost done. Grinning to himself, he took the flask and poured it into two cups, ready to serve his masterpiece.

When he placed the cups down, Kira and Andrew looked at their cups...and stopped short. It wasn't that they didn't like coffee or anything but...last they checked, coffee wasn't supposed to have green and purple swirls in it. "Uh…" Kira hesitated.

"What's wrong? Go ahead, it's great," Asher said, taking a sip from his own cup. "See?"

Kira and Andrew looked at each other, still unsure, but seeing as Asher drank it...it should be safe. With that in mind, they picked up their cups, and against their better judgment, took a few sips. Both of them stiffened before the cups hit the ground and both of them ran for the nearest bathroom as their stomachs threatened to forcefully unload their lunch.

"If you wanted to kill me, you could have just used a gun or a knife! It would have been much less sadistic!" Andrew moaned as he and Kira were sitting on the sofa, both holding their stomachs in pain.

Asher, however, looked...completely clueless as he continued to drink the coffee like it was nothing.

"How the heck can you stomach that stuff?!" Kira gasped in morbid interest.

"What are you guys talking about? It's not poison. It's my mom's special seaweed and red bean coffee. I've been drinking it since I was 12," Asher said, not at all understanding what was wrong.

"Suddenly that explains a lot of things…" Kira groaned pathetically. From what little he'd heard of Asher's parents, especially his mother...it was no wonder Asher was so...insane. She probably killed whatever sanity he was born with.

"No idea what you mean by that, although I added some curry leaves to make the aroma strong. Smells nice though. Maybe I should add some cream cheese to make it creamy." Asher said as he filled his cup again. "You two want a refill?"

"No….I'm good," Kira said hastily. He decided it was best to not question Asher's stomach integrity.

"I'll pass as well. Kid, I admire your creativity and pursuit of new taste, but I'm at my limit." Andrew said as he'd rather not the next headline news be the death of the Desert Tiger via food poisoning from some teenager's coffee...one that apparently his mother had been making him drink since he was 12 at that...

At that moment, the doors opened again as Aisha stepped in, followed by Cagalli. "And-" Aisha was about to say...right before she saw the state he was in. "What happened here?!" she gasped in shock.

Likewise, Cagalli was surprised as well. "Kira, are you okay? What happened?"

"He did it!" both of them quickly pointed at Asher who was still sipping away at the remainder of his coffee...a feat that defied all logic and common sense.

"Aisha, whatever you do, do NOT try the stuff he's drinking! Trust me, you'll be gambling your life if you do!" Andrew quickly said, Kira nodding in agreement.

"Hey! Mom's coffee isn't that bad...is it?" Asher said in indignation as he took another sip. "Nice dress, by the way, Cagalli. I almost mistook you for some princess from another country."

"Shut up," Cagalli grumbled, but the blush on her face wasn't fooling anyone, and despite the pain, he was in, Andrew couldn't help but chuckle at the display with Aisha soon following.

"What?!" Murrue said in surprise. "Are you sure? Kira, Cagalli, and Asher haven't returned?" this earned several shocked gasps from the crew in the control room.

"No. We were to meet here at an agreed upon time, but they are nowhere to be found," Kisaka said. "Have Sahib and the others returned yet?"

"No, not yet," Murrue said. However, unknown to them there was someone else listening. If anyone had been paying attention, they would likely have felt a small breeze for a moment.

Upon the roof of the Archangel, Renamon appeared in a blur of motion, having heard the conversation. "Cagalli…" she muttered in worry, before turning her sight towards the town they had gone to, and in a blur of motion she was off.

"That dress looks very nice on you. It would even appear that you're quietly accustomed to dressing like that." Andrew said

"Say what you want," Cagalli said as she drank a cup of coffee made by Andrew, as Asher had finished his coffee. Right now, he's taking a sip of Andrew coffee, it tasted good but not as good as his mom's in his opinion.

'I drank too much, I'll probably having a hard time sleeping tonight.' Asher thought.

"If you didn't talk, you'd be the perfect woman," Andrew said as he shrugged.

"How about instead start asking what you want with us? I'm sure your intention to hold us here long enough is too obvious, Commander Waltfeld. You may be able to hide your body language, but you can't hide those stares you've been giving us….or was it towards Cagalli?" Asher asked as he sipped his coffee while his eyes were closed.

"Oh? What makes you say that, boy?" Andrew asked as he raised his left brow.

"The fact that your men and yourself had been spying on Cagalli for about almost half the time we were shopping. Especially after we saw the debris left by your forces." Asher said as his eyes still remained close.

"Oh? So you noticed?" Andrew said with an amused look. It seemed that this dark blue hair boy never ceased to amaze him.

"Me?" Cagalli asked

"What are you talking about, Asher?" Kira asked

"Exactly as I said, but I might know the answer," Asher said as he sipped his coffee.

"And that is?" Andrew asked, his face started to drew with amusement.

"Something related to Tasil incident, especially something you've never seen before. Like a yellow fox, is that right?" Asher asked as he opened his eyes.

Kira and Cagalli gasped at the same time knowing what the dark blue hair boy meant, what they don't know is how did ZAFT come to know about it?

"It's simple, you two. He probably watched the recording of the previous battle from one of the BCUE they manage to recover. It's normal for mobile suits to have those inside and to be reviewed later. You wanted to find out the real identity of the yellow fox and you manage to find out that it was related to Cagalli somehow. Isn't that right, Commander Waltfeld?" Asher asked

Andrew looked down and his body began shaking. Soon after that, he starts to burst out laughing. "Hahaha! You got me there, boy!" Andrew continues to laugh as he pressed his forehead with his right hand. "It's true, that I'm interested in that girl and her fox."

"Why didn't you tell us that they were tailing us earlier?!" Cagalli demanded.

"Don't be a fool, if they noticed that we knew they're following us, do you think they would let us go that easily? Besides, I don't have any evidence that they were ZAFT at first and it's for the best to act naturally without knowing." Asher said as he sighed. "Although, it seems that today is kind of the Desert Tiger's lucky day but I'm starting to wonder if all this was part of your plan?"

"What do you mean?" Andrew asked

"First of all, why would the ZAFT Commander of this region risk himself by appearing in public? It doesn't take a genius to realize that after the Tasil incident you've been expecting us to come here for resupplies, especially the black market which I'm sure you are aware of." Asher said

"What?" Both Kira and Cagalli yelled.

"Although, I highly doubt you actually went so far as to tip off some Blue Cosmos members that you'd be in this place, out in public when you found us, right? Or was it your lucky day that the timing was right and you took advantage of it to make us follow you here and I'll take it that you had suspicions that Kira is the pilot of the Strike as well after you saw Kira in action back at the restaurant." Asher said

"That too, you really got me good, boy. It's true I've been expecting the girl and that the resistance will be coming here for the supplies from the Black Market, but even though I know there were Blue Cosmos members around in this city, I did not expect them to attack boldly like that." Andrew smirked. "Did that answer your question, boy? I actually believed that facade of a fool you were using earlier."

"Uh...what?" Asher blinked, confused at that one.

"...that was an act, right?" Andrew blinked.

"What act?" was Asher's confused reply.

Everyone in the room face faulted, seriously wondering how it was possible for someone like Asher to get so smart so suddenly, then go back to being dumb.

"Nevermind, but tell me boy, how did you know my intention about the girl so well?" Andrew asked curiously, both Kira and Cagalli were interested as well.

"It's nothing, I've just been thinking of possibilities after recalling the events until now. If you mix it together with the timing of the situation and the coincidence, anyone would be able to guess their motive. As for how I've been followed my mom's work as a detective since my childhood which is a secret she didn't know by the way." Asher said

"I take it you and Kira are Coordinators?" Andrew asked

"Too bad, my blood test shows that I'm a Natural, but my friend Kira is a Coordinator," Asher replied as he sipped his coffee.

"Kira?" Cagalli look at Kira, that she just realized that he was a Coordinator. But what surprised her, even more, is that Asher was a Natural despite the show of intelligence that doesn't describe his age. Even Andrew was surprised to hear that Asher is a Natural.

"We won't tell you what the yellow fox is, Commander Waltfeld. For your own sake, it's best not to pursue it any more than necessary since you've been helping Cagalli. Because it was something that should not be messed with." Asher said

"I see. I know that the girl won't provide us that information easily through." Andrew got up and went to his table. Kira and Cagalli stood up trying to get away from Andrew except for Asher who still seated on the couch.

"You know, I was actually interested in Earth Alliance Mobile Suits pilot and that yellow fox. I'll consider them as a serious threat really, but it seems I was wrong." Andrew said as he turned around pointing his handgun at Asher.

"Asher!" Kira called as he tried to move towards his friend.

"Don't move, pilot boy," Andrew ordered as he looks at Kira and later turned to Asher who sipped the coffee cup with his eyes closed. "For someone of your age to have great observation skills and that detailed deduction as well as the analytical skills you've been displayed and for you to be awfully calm in this situation...it is not something that someone who simply followed their parent's work could gain. Not with that kind of confidence. It won't surprise me if you're actually not a normal teenager but a trained soldier." Andrew said.

"Not really," Asher said as he placed the cup down. "Due to my parent's work, sometimes I had been targeted by wicked people, or criminals looking for revenge, so gun pointing doesn't seem rare to me. Especially not after they tried to hold me hostage, frankly speaking. And besides…" Asher's face turned into a grin. "The safety is still on, Commander."

"Pfft, Hahahahaha! You've got a good eye!" Andrew said as he dropped his aim laughing. "You're really interesting, if we weren't on opposite sides, I think we could have been great friends," Andrew said. "Originally I wanted to ask this question to just the Pilot of the Strike, as a fellow pilot, but now I think I'd like to ask this to all of you," he mused. "What do you think should be done?"

"Huh?" all three teenagers blinked.

"Sorry, I wasn't clear," Andrew chuckled. "What do you think needs to be done for this war to end?"

Kira gasped slightly, but when he thought about it...he really couldn't answer that. Cagalli on the other hand…

"Isn't that obvious?!" Cagalli growled. "If everyone would just stop fighting, stop making more and more weapons-"

"But would that really be so simple? After all, there are a lot of people who have a more...personal stake in this war," Andrew pointed out, his mind going straight back to one of the key causes of the war, the Bloody Valentine. "What about you, boy? What do you think?"

Asher placed his coffee cup on the table, "There's really no definite answer for it, but one thing is for sure.".

"And that is…?" Andrew asked

"Well, for starters, everyone needs to get their heads out of their assess." Asher deadpanned.

A pin could have dropped and everyone would have heard it at that point, seeing as everyone in the room was actually gaping at Asher after his...extremely blunt response. Andrew was the first to regain his composure and politely coughed. "I...see…" he said. "And why would you say that?"

"Isn't it obvious? ZAFT has been using the Bloody Valentine as a propaganda tool to inspire the public to support their view for their so-called retribution. I'm not saying the anger isn't justified, but they've got the wrong target. At the same time, Blue Cosmos had been spreading their Coordinator bigotry by spouting their slogan nonsense to fuel hatred on Earth. I'm seriously wondering the people who come out with that slogan is actually understanding what are they saying? 'For pure and blue Earth' is like asking to annihilate humanity from the face of Earth, since humans are kind of destroying Mother Nature, don't you think so? Do they hate Coordinator because of the genetic difference? Because they're more capable than Naturals? For that reason, someone thought it was a good idea to freaking nuke the colony and ZAFT retaliate by sending troops to Earth? Anyone else here seeing the problem with this picture?!" Asher asked. "So no, until people can start looking past these idiotic reasons, which honestly is just as bad as discriminating due to something like race or skin color, the only way I can see this war ending is with either or both sides killing each other completely! Bottom line, like I told Admiral Halberton up in space, this isn't war, this is a glorified childish tantrum trumped up to the scale of global genocide! Nobody is gaining anything, but they're losing everything to this war!"

Kira and Cagalli were once more gaping at their friend, their minds processing what he was saying, and they realized...it made sense, even though a part of them didn't want to accept that the war could go that far.

"That's an...interesting viewpoint, boy. But I believe you know that humanity is a very complex existence, isn't that right?" Andrew asked

"That's what makes every individual different, which is why conflicts happen every day. The only difference is how big of the scale the conflict was. Unless everyone decided to shake hands together, it will be an endless cycle. I'm not idealistic enough to think we can live without conflict, but everyone's gotta learn where to draw the line, and frankly, this 'war' has crossed that line...10 times over," Asher said, and to punctuate, he stuck his thumb down. When nobody said anything else, he went back to his seat.

Asher picked up his cup and drink the coffee, so far he managed to keep the situation proceeding as he wanted.

'Alright, so far the pace is on my side. Keep cool, Asher. Just remember mom and dad's teaching.' Asher thought.

He only waited for a chance to make sure Andrew willing to let them go unharmed. His mind quickly process to the next step he needs to make with all possibilities could be happened, but Andrew had caught him off guard when he heard Andrew's next question.

"You know, when I asked that question, I expected a lot of things," Andrew chuckled emptily. Even he was feeling the weight of Asher's words. "But you, kid...you really exceeded my expectations. Maybe you're right, maybe this war really is headed for an end where we all die. But then again, maybe it isn't. Who knows," he shrugged. "Alright, one last question. Are you perhaps... the pilot of the mysterious Mobile Suit, the Omni Gundam?" Andrew asked which immediately caused Asher to spit his coffee out, getting it all over the expensive carpet in the room.

"Excuse me? What makes you think that?" Asher asked as he coughed, trying to calm himself down as he remembered he didn't show any resemblance to his Gundam.

Likewise, Kira was very surprised at the question. After all, sure Asher could have his moments of being smart but...no way he was the pilot of the Omni Gundam. Not in a million years.

"Oh nothing much," Andrew chuckled. "It's just you sure seem to understand much more than people your age should. Not to mention you sure don't seem to see things the way most people do. So it got me wondering."

"Yeah well, I can say for sure I'm not the pilot of the Omni Gundam," Asher said. It wasn't a lie either. He wasn't the pilot of that Mobile Suit. He was the Mobile Suit itself, but no way he was going to say that.

Andrew just grinned as he closed his eyes, he reached his hand on his comm after he stored his gun in a drawer and pressed a button. Seconds later, the door had opened revealed Aisha standing there. "You three can go now. As your friend said, I only wanted to show my thanks for saving my life and of course some answers for a few questions. Besides, this is not the battlefield." Andrew said

Kira held Cagalli's shoulder as they made their way to the exit as he doesn't want to stay here any longer. Asher stood up after he finished his coffee, but before Asher able to join with Kira and Cagalli, Andrew had called out to Asher.

"The boy with dark blue hair, you don't mind for me to hear your name?" Andrew asked

Asher looks at Andrew, "Asher, Asher Valentine."

"Valentine huh? It's a nice name." Andrew commented.

"Your welcome, and we would like to thank you for the hospitality here. Have a good day, Commander Waltfeld." Asher said as he followed his friends exited the room. The three teenagers were dropped off at the market streets after Cagalli dirty clothes were dry up, since heading back to the base with the dress will only cause problems for them later.

The teenagers were dropped off in a middle of the market street by a soldier driver, with their groceries at hand, they continue heading towards their rendezvous point without saying a word. But when they stopped and waited if Kisaka had returned to check on them again, Kira can't help but ask something which he's curious about.

"Asher, how did you do it?" Kira asked

"Pardon?" Asher asked, not really catching up what his friend sudden question all about.

"Sorry, I mean how did you stand up to that man just now? I was both scared and a little panicked what will be happened when he points that gun out, especially feared that what will happen if we were caught inside." Kira said

"Tell you the truth, Kira. I'm not as calm as you think. I was scared as well and worried a whole lot more than I let on." Asher said

"No way! Stop lying! You were completely calm when facing that man!" Cagalli retorted.

"I'm not lying. I was totally scared just now but my mom used to say this every time." Asher said with a small smile.

"What?" Both asked

"We can't rush the investigation. Mustn't hurry things along. Stay cool, stay calm. Doggedly and with all your might, exhibit endurance like hard black iron." Asher said as he recalled what his mother used to teach him. "It's a teaching and a motto of my late Grandfather in our detective agency where I live and my mum work."

"Besides my mom also used to teach me to be aware of my surroundings and use it to my advantage and father always taught me that no matter what the situation, always suppress the fear in you. Bravely overcome the obstacle with everything I can and never give up. That's why I remained calm with the combined teaching of my parents and used what I had gathered and the possibilities of what will happen next. Sometimes I secretly read my mom's previous case she solved and spied on how she worked on the crime scene when I had the chance, mostly because I'm curious." Asher said as he shrugged his shoulder. "Remarkably, you learn a lot more stuff than what school could ever offer."

Kira and Cagalli were lost at words, mainly they still couldn't help but think Asher is really too weird, everything about him seems unnatural for his age. Kira already accepted the fact that his friend had been weird a while ago, but Cagalli still trying to adapt his weirdness. Not before long they saw Kisaka driving the jeep towards them much to their relief, once they get on, Cagalli saw Renamon on one of the rooftops before she disappeared, Cagalli couldn't help but smile and decided she'd thank her Digimon partner later on as the jeep drove back to their camp.

At the same time, inside Andrew's office. Andrew was brewing his coffee until someone knocked on his door. "Its open," he said, to which the door opened, revealing that it was Aisha as she entered.

"The kids had been safely returned without harm, is this alright with you, Andy? Letting them go like that?" Aisha asked

"Like I said before, I just want to thank them for saving my life. Besides, this is not a battlefield. It won't feel right for me to treat them at gunpoint now, wouldn't I?" Andrew said

"So, did you get your answer? About that yellow fox?" Aisha asked

"It's expected they wouldn't share that information. Besides, I won't test my luck if we torture them for information. Who knows that fox will come and burn this place up. Besides, there's something even more interesting than that." Andrew said

"Oh? Is it about that boy with dark blue hair?" Aisha guessed

"Heh, you know me too well. Frankly speaking, I think he's more dangerous than the yellow fox and the Strike pilot." Andrew said as he added something to his coffee flask.

"Really?" Aisha blinked in surprise. Even if that boy was rather strange, he didn't seem like all that much.

"He has incredible observation abilities and the way he expressed his deduction which was actually better than most if not all Coordinator around his age, or even an adult. Not to mention how he managed to keep calm even when he was in the middle of enemy territory. It's almost like he's as hard as iron that not easy to broke down. It takes a lot of confidence and a quick mind to do that feat, I wonder what kind of parent had shaped that boy up." Andrew said as he poured the coffee into a small cup.

"Besides, I can't shake this feeling that the Omni Gundam and that boy are related somehow, even if he's a Natural as he claimed," Andrew said as he lifted the cup.

"What makes you think that?" Aisha asked

"Call it a gut feeling, but the entire time I always felt something was...off about that kid. Not to mention how he talked about the war...it's not the way of talking you'd hear in someone who saw things from the sidelines. No, it's how someone who's been in the thick of the war would talk as if he's been on the battlefield itself." Andrew took a sip of his coffee but his face turn scowl after the taste. "Urgh, I guess it really was a bad idea to add these. The taste is terrible." Andrew said

"What did you add?" Aisha asked

"Sour cream and yogurt sauce," Andrew said until he received a blank look from his lover. "What? I'm just trying something new." Andrew said

"I think you were talking with that boy for too long," Aisha deadpanned. She loved Andrew, but sometimes she wondered what he was thinking.

And...that's that. I wanted to make an Omake but maybe next time perhaps.

Of course, thank you for reading, I'll might post maybe around...

3 months later perhaps?


	16. Preparation and new pursuers.

Hello readers, unfortunately, the Author is kind of away from fanfiction for now as the author job is entered the busy period and some other stuff, the author won't be active for maybe until JUN.

So I'll upload the chapter and monitor account on author stead with the author permission, so there won't be author note probably later if I continue to upload.

Who am I, please look at the profile for the status info, I am Cat-tuar, a friend, and author colleague or neighbor, thank you.

#the story was not done by me (just helping out) but Ashervalentine and didn't own anything except for OC

PS: The Author is quite happy that the fav and follow almost reach 100 (placed 3rd in favorite filter in the crossover) which exceed expectation and the author is really thankful for it, the Author will keep up the uploads for those enjoyed.

Chp 16: Preparation and new pursuers.

It was a peaceful day in the PLANTS. Currently, Athrun was driving down the road, heading for the Clyne family's home. The drive was a simple affair. Uneventful and relaxing...or it would be if not for the Digimon that was going all over the car like a giddy child. "They...don't have cars in your world do they?" was all he could ask as Kotemon crawled back into his seat.

"No," Kotemon said, and Athrun could clearly hear the smile in his voice. "This is the first time I've seen something like this, Athrun-sama."

"Well, I'm glad you're enjoying it, but please be careful. The last thing both of us want is an accident," Athrun sweatdropped. Fortunately, Kotemon listened and immediately got back into his seat, complete with the seat belt. Though how he managed to grab and attach the seat belt when he was the size of a stuffed toy...was something Athrun wasn't interested in finding out.

Eventually, they made it to the Clyne home, and Kotemon quickly returned to the Digivice for the time being. With that, Athrun got out of the car, Digivice secured to his belt and a bouquet of flowers in hand. When the butler opened the door for him, Lacus was already at the stairs. "Welcome, Athrun," she said with a smile from the second floor, as Athrun turned to face her, a small horde of Haros coming down the stairs, all of them chirping excitedly.

"Why don't we make it a mustache today," Lacus chuckled slightly as she drew a mustache on a navy colored Haro. Currently, she and Athrun were seated in the gardens, with some tea on the table. Once she was done, she placed the Haro on the ground, before the rest of them followed after in a game of tag, though one Haro remained behind, the pink Haro that was oddly quiet today.

Athrun watched as the group of Haro ran off, sighing slightly. However, unseen to him, Kotemon attention was for some reason on the Pink Haro that was still on the table. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to return for the memorial ceremonies," he apologized.

"No, it's alright," Lacus reassured as she poured a cup of tea for him. "I prayed for your mother on your behalf," she said gently.

"Thank you very much," Athrun said softly as well, while Kotemon wished he could have placed a hand on his shoulder, but...he kind of couldn't at the moment.

"I heard that you were back and I was looking forward to the possibility of seeing you this time. Will you be able to remain here a while this time?" she asked.

"I'm not sure. My schedule for time off is never fixed," Athrun sighed, though he idly noticed the Pink Haro tilting a little, as if sad at hearing that.

Lacus frowned slightly when she heard that. "I understand that there has been an increase in people entering the military lately. A number of my friends have also enrolled in the military," she sighed as a bird landed in her hand, while she fed it some crumbs from the cookies on the table. "I feel like this war is just growing…"

"You may be right about that…" Athrun sighed, having seen things first hand. A heavy silence descended on both of them for a few moments, before Lacus decided to change the uncomfortable subject.

"By the way, I wonder how Kira is doing lately," she said much to his surprise. "Have you seen him since then?" she asked.

Athrun looked away, remembering the last time he saw Kira was in a battle. "He should be on Earth right now. I believe he's fine," he quickly said.

"You were friends since you were little, right?" Lacus asked again as she fed the birds again.

"Yes, since we were 4 or 5," Athrun nodded slightly. "Back then we lived on the moon, but when war looked like it was going to break out, I followed father's orders and went to the PLANTS. I had heard he would be coming later…" Lacus frowned as she saw how sad he seemed. "I talked to him about Haro and he told me that you hadn't changed," she smiled.

"Huh?" Athrun blinked in surprise.

"He laughed happily telling me that you also made his Birdy," she smiled. "He seemed to be taking very good care of it," she continued.

"He still has it?" Athrun blinked in surprise, while the pink Haro tilted seemed to roll closer as if interested.

"Yes, I saw it a number of times on his shoulder," Lacus nodded

"I see…" Athrun mused.

Lacus looked at him for a moment before looking out into the distance. "I'm quite fond of him," she commented.

Back at the Archangel's hiding spot, supplies from the black market had arrived and were being stockpiled inside the hangar. Asher was bewildered when he saw the list on the paper concerning the supplies they were getting from the black market and had begged Kira and his friends to help sort it out, which something they agreed to help out.

With Asher taking the lead, the re-stocking wasn't as chaotic as everyone had expected. The dark blue haired boy had been directing them to ensure the supplies did not block their pathway or they will face a supply traffic jam. Cagalli was in the Archangel and she was impressed with how Asher was able to handle organizing supplies smoothly, the way he directing seemed too professional for someone his age, to the point she wondered if Asher was really mature, or if that craziness of his was just a facade of his true self?

While the Archangel was restocking supplies, the Archangel's three top officers were in a cave together with Sahib to discuss their escape plan from the dessert.

"This place is full of abandoned mines. And this place over here has landmines that we set with the help of Cagalli's fox friend. If we're going to use any place for the battlefield, this place will be our advantage." Sahib said as he points the directions on the map with markings.

"The enemy probably thinking the same thing and it would be a waste not to put our landmines to good use," Sahib said.

"But are you alright with that? Putting us aside, consider how you're equipped with against the BCUE, you can expect the considerable amount of casualty even with that Renamon around." Mu said

Sahib went silent for a short moment as he stares at the officers before he replies, "If we did as the Desert Tiger says and work for them, I'm sure we'd be promised a peaceful life like in Banadiya."

"In fact, a number of women have asked us to consider it. But their ruler's method is capricious." Sahib said as he watched a couple of kids running around in the cave while their mother chasing after them. "I believe that our people have suffered from it for hundreds of years."

"We will not be ruled, and we will not rule. That's all we wished for. If we could take back the mining area in the east that the Desert Tiger took over, that wish will come true." Sahib finished before he sighs and looks at the officers. "Of course, we'll be taking advantage of your arsenals for our purpose too, So that would make it even, right? Set your mind at ease." Sahib said with a small smile.

"Okay, I gotcha. Captain?" Mu said as he looks at his Captain. Murrue looks at Natarle who nodded in response. "Very well, we will be glad to accept your cooperation with us with this plan to get past the Lessep."

"Thank you very much." Sahib thanked her as he nodded his head.

Back in the Archangel, the supplies are finally finished organized after Asher made his last check. "All right, all cargos are loaded and organized. With this, we're pretty much able to last a little longer to Alaska probably." Asher said as he exited one of the storage room and headed back to the hangar to see if there's anything else needed to be done before he takes a rest.

In the hangar, he saw Mirrialia, Kuzey, Tolle and Arnold Neumann, one of the Archangel's bridge crew standing behind on something he can't see very well. "Hey, what are you guys looking at?" Asher asked as he walks over them.

"Ah, Asher. Look at her, she's amazing!" Mirrialia said

"What's amazing? Cagalli? What is she doing here?" Asher said as he took a peek and saw the second chosen child maneuvering what appeared to be an arcade-style simulation shooting down GINNs. "What is she playing? Some kind of game?" Asher asked

"Nah, it's the simulation for the Skygrasper. Mirrialia and Kurzey tried it out, now it's her turn and she's been doing very well." Tolle replied.

"I've been shot down as soon as I entered the battlefield," Kuzzey said

"Me too," Miriallia said as well.

"Is it really that hard?" Asher can't help but asked, not before long the simulation displayed the high score and Cagalli came up top.

"You guys are pathetic for a soldier. You've never held a gun before, have you? You're gonna get yourself killed." Cagalli asked with a small grin.

"Well, you can't blame them. They were just college students before the Heliopolis incident, so you can't expect them to have used a gun before." Asher said

"Yeah, and someone is even more dangerous without a gun here," Tolle said as he, Miriallia, Kuzzey, Arnold, and even Cagalli looked at Asher.

"What?" Asher asked

"Nothing!" All of them answered. "Hey, Asher. You want to try first?" Tolle asked

"Sure, if you don't mind. Since I think there's nothing left to do but I think we need to find more people to test it out since we had like three units of Skygrasper inside." Asher said as he gets on the simulator.

"I'll warn you, it's not easy," Cagalli said

"Thanks for the warning. Now then, let's see how far I can go." Asher said as the simulation starts. Kuzzey idly wonders just how long before Asher lose. A few minutes later, they were surprised that Asher manages to stay longer than they thought, not before long Asher had shot down the remaining targets and the high score shown on his screen showing a 153,870 placing on third place with rank S.

"Huh, well that's even better than I thought at first. I was expected to get shot down halfway." Asher said as he got out from the simulation seat.

"That was awesome, man!" Tolle said

"Yeah, we were wondering how long you able to hold out," Kuzzey said

"You're amazing, Asher," Miriallia said

"Not bad, even though you placed third." Cagalli comment.

"Did you have experience with aircraft before?" Arnold asked

"Nope, never had one before," Asher said with the straightest face they'd ever seen.

"...you're kidding right?" was all Arnold could say.

"Honest. Well, then. I'll be my taking leave. See you guys around." Asher said as he left the hangar. As he was walking in the hallway, with no plan where he's heading yet, Asher look at his own hands remembered what happened during the simulation.

'It's not surprising that Kuzzey and Miriallia had difficulties with the simulation, the controls are complex for a normal civilian to pilot it. Not to mention is a freaking fighter jet, unlike arcade games. Also...my senses seem different than usual, my reaction time is faster, my eyesight seems to get better visual, it's like my body undergone some changes inside me. Is it one of the side effect of transforming into my Gundam?' Asher thought although he was a bit worried about the changes in his body he noticed so far, a part of him feel grateful for it. However, he needs to have a full checkup with Nanomon when he got a chance, he needs to know what happened to his body now, that is if his body not acting up again and passed out like before when he tried to enter the cyberspace. With that in mind, he made his way to his room. No point in delaying his meeting with the 'good doctor'...yeah, he still felt a shiver go up to his spine each time the prospect hit him...

Meanwhile, back at the PLANTS, Athrun was preparing to leave the Clyne family home as he had received a call. "It's a shame you can't stay longer. I had hoped you'd be able to join me for dinner," Lacus said.

"I'm sorry," Athrun apologized, but Lacus just smiled in understanding. "I have a number of things I need to take care of. Well, because it's not often that I can get back here."

"Is that so?" Lacus frowned slightly. "But I guess it cannot be helped." At that, the pink Haro jumped up and landed on her shoulder, to which she petted it slightly.

"I-If I have the time, I will be sure to visit you again," Athrun quickly said.

Lacus seemed to brighten up at that. "Really? Then I shall be waiting for you," she smiled.  
Athrun smiled at that, before giving her a quick peck on the cheek and turning to leave. "Good night."

"Good night," Lacus waved as he closed the door. Once he was gone, she turned to her Haros. "Thing seems to be quite hectic with Athrun," she sighed slightly as she caught the pink Haro and walked up the stairs, the other Haro following after her.

"It'll be okay, Lacus," the pink Haro said, not at all in its usual voice, but in the voice of a little girl. Lacus just smiled and nodded slightly, before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a certain device. A pink colored Digivice which glowed softly in her hands.

Andrew frowned as he looked over some information he'd received, the commander now in an uncharacteristically brooding mood. He was so focused on the information that he didn't notice Aisha until she was right behind him.

"That's not a good look on you, Andy," she couldn't help but say.

"Huh? Oh, sorry Aisha," he apologized. "I've just been...preoccupied with the information on the reinforcements Chairman Zala sent us," he said with a face that made it look like he'd sucked on a lemon.

"Is something wrong? Why would information on reinforcements be...oh…" Aisha stopped short when Andrew let her see for herself. "This...it must be a mistake," she couldn't help but say when she read the list of names.

As if on cue, someone started knocking on the door. "Commander Waltfeld, we are preparing to receive the reinforcements," DaCosta said.

"Well, looks like we'll find out," Andrew grimaced as he got up and they walked to the door. It wasn't long before they found themselves in the courtyard as 3 mobile suits touched down, all of them appeared to be GINN units, but he recognized them as being more than just standard units from just a glance it was clear they'd all been heavily modified.

One of them is the black and dark purple GINN Tempest, a customized GINN that has been modified for greater mobility. installing additional vernier thrusters throughout the suit's frame, most notably on the shoulders and waist which has completely new armor, and replacing the standard wing thrusters and legs with new larger units with more rocket thrusters. The new legs are particularly wide while remaining roughly the same length as a standard GINN's legs. It was armed with a 76mm Heavy Assault Machine Gun stored on the back of the waist and a Heavy Polearm which is separated into two to be stored on each hip.

Next is the GINN Fuego, colored with military camouflage and purple is a Heavy Artillery Type. For this purpose, the Fuego has been modified extensively to the point that it no longer resembled a mobile suit so much as a tank with a mobile suit torso and head. The Fuego lacks any legs, instead possessing a tank like lower body propelled solely by rocket thrusters. The standard GINN arms have been replaced with new longer, though thinner, arms that mount heavy armor shields onto the forearms. Fuego was designed to served to assist Tempest by deploying 16 multiple tube missile launcher from long distance.

Lastly, is a Brown and Orange GINN Assault Type, fully equipped with varieties of weapons and extra armors on it. A pair of Gatling guns are mounted on the shoulder and 3-Barrel short guided missile launchers mounted on its legs. On the wrist, it has a pair of 2-tube grenade launcher mounted, underneath the extra chest armor, there's a pair of grenades underneath it, the armor will be flipped open when deployed. A standard Heavy Blade for close range mounted on left hip and lastly an experiment 27mm Armour- Piercing Assault Rifle as the main weapon. This GINN will serve as a Balancer to assist Tempest and Fuego disadvantage.

"Yo, Waltfeld. I heard that you're in charge of this goddamn place. Heh, no wonder why they called you Desert Tiger I heard back there." a rugged looking middle-aged man said. He looked like he'd been through a war zone with the scars he had, which gave him a rather gravely and older looking appearance despite actually still being in his 40s "Heard you get yourself a woman, lucky bastard you."

Andrew remains silent as he continues to glare at the person in front of him and the other two. (Ahab appearance) saw where Andrew looking at, "Ops, my bad. Where are my manners go? Here, I'll introduce my team. This one is my best partner, names Julian Morningstar. He'll be piloting the Fuego."

"Nice to meet you, Commander. Julian Morningstar at your service." The man called Julian saluted but the arrogant grin plastered on his face shows that he wasn't really serious in his salute.

"Next one is our newcomer, his name is Syrus Braveheart. He'll be piloting the DIIN Assault type over there and assist on our offense.

"Pleasure to meet you, sir!" The man called Syrus salute perfectly.

"And of course, you know me, Ahab Hunter. The captain of this special team that's been formed to take out the target. The Hunter Team." Ahab introduced himself.

Andrew took a moment of silence before spoken, "Then, on behalf of my men I'll welcome you. But I hope you don't forget that you will be under my command for the moment." he said.

"Doesn't matter, as long as we got our prey what was it called again?" Ahab asked Julian.

"Something about Omni Gundam or Knight-1 as we call it," Julian said as he shrugs.

"My men will show where your quarters at if you don't mind?" Andrew asked.

"Sure, why not. Lead the way." Ahab said as he casually waved his hand, Andrew nodded his head on one of his men as a signal to send them to their quarters. DaCosta walked up to his commander and whispers.

"Commander, is this really the guy? He seems different from the rumors I heard." DaCosta asked

"Don't let his carefreeness fooled you, DaCosta. That is just his face mask to hide his true self. I worked together with him once before and wished I never see him again." Andrew said

"What exactly did he do?" DaCosta asked

"I prefer not to talk about it. Keep on eye on them, especially the captain. If they made any movement, let me know instantly." Andrew said

"Yes, sir!" DaCosta salute, as Andrew, withdraw himself heading to his office where Aisha waiting inside with folded arms and frown on her face.

"How was it?" Aisha asked

"It's under control, for now, I just worry when we deployed into the battlefield." Andrew sighed as he entered his office. "I'm starting to wonder why the top brass released Ahab from the prison, especially what he had done before just for hunting down a single unknown mobile suit?" Andrew asked

"Reports have been said that this Omni Gundam had no problems against the G-weapons Creuset stole, probably that's why they send out some veteran instead of Creuset's fresh elite," Aisha said

"Still, I don't like this. It's like something is manipulating behind the scenes." Andrew frowned. "But there's nothing we can do for now. How's the Lagowe doing?"

"They almost finished with the preparation. It won't be long to be able to sortie on the battlefield." Aisha replied.

"I see, let's hope that nothing bad will happen to us later," Andrew said, yet for some reason, the feeling in his gut was telling him otherwise. He knew he'd have to be on guard, and likely not just from their enemies.

To be continued...

# Surprised Omake: The mysterious dish.

* Set on the day when Asher, Kira, and Cagalli come back from Andrew Waldfeld mansion in the previous chapter before this chapter begins *

Asher was currently in the empty mess hall alone after when they had just gotten back from a town controlled by Andrew Waldfeld. Frankly, he's a bit tired from the previous ordeal and he was glad that the supplies that purchased from the black market won't arrive any sooner, so he's taking the advantages and decided to take a break.

"Not that I'm complaining, but having nothing to do is really boring...maybe I should connect jump to spend time with the Digimon? Not that I have any clue how to get home by staying here anyway..." Asher muttered at the end.

"Oh non! This is terrible! Catastrophe!"

Asher was startled when he heard a sudden outburst from behind which had made him jump slightly. Asher turned around and found a French looking man with chef's outfit currently pressing both side of his head with his hands on the table that seems stressed about something. That man seems to be the chef of the Archangel name Oscar if Asher remembers correctly and his staff was with him.

It seems they had a problem with some of the cooking staff were fell sick and they are short-handed. Knowing this, Asher had just an idea. The boy approaching the chef's and started the conversation unaware that Renamon coincidentally passes through the mess hall without anyone noticing.

"Man I'm starving, I wonder what we have for dinner?" Tolle pressed his stomach and his stomach grumbled from hunger loud enough for everyone in the vicinity to hear. The teenagers are group together including Cagalli head towards the mess hall after Kira inviting Cagalli if she wants to join with them after Tolle and the rest invite Kira.

"Could be the same ration, though as we are on Earth, was hoping to eat a decent meal," Sai said.

"By the way, where is Asher? Didn't you inviting him, Kira?" Mirallia asked,

"I tried but I can't find him anywhere, Murdoch-san said he was resting somewhere but no idea where," Kira said, with that, they had arrived at the mess hall and they can smell a nice aroma from the counter.

"Good grief, can't be helped. Renamon?" Cagalli called and the yellow fox appears out of thin air which never fails to surprise the teenagers.

"You called, Cagalli-sama?"

"Yes, did you happen to know where did Asher disappear too?" Cagalli asked,

"Yes, he's in the kitchen last I saw," Renamon answered.

"Kitchen?" The teenagers asked together at the same time. For some reason when he heard Asher is in the kitchen making his stomach feel funny remembering that coffee made by Asher.

"Yes, something with helping out with the meal I heard," Renamon answered.

"Oh hey, everyone! What are you guys doing here?" The teenagers and the Digimon (both Renamon and Huckmon) saw Asher with a blue apron come out from the kitchen after he placed a big sauce bucket on the serving counter.

"What are you doing? And what's with that outfit?" Kurzzey can't help but ask,

"Isn't it obvious? I'm helping out with our dinner. Though, it's more like something I've been wanted to do for a long time." Asher replied.

"Ah, Monsieur Asher, thank you so much for the help and your suggestion of making this dish. It's very helpful and we appreciate it!" Oscar comes to Asher and handshake with him, and surprisingly Asher can speak in French as well although the accent is little off.

"Pas de problème, Mister Oscar, is that how it said? Sorry, I'm not fluent in French, hahaha." Asher said as he scratches the back of his head.

"No problem, young man. I say your recipe is unique, although its uncommon practice for the common dish but the taste is Magnifique!" Oscar said beaming with happiness and him thanks Asher again for reviving his cooking motivation.

"I'm not sure if we should interrupt or not...I'm clueless on what's going on here," Tolle said,

"Argh! Stop with the drama, I'm hungry already smelling that nice smell! What is that thing!" Huckmon decided to break it off, thanks to the nice aroma he's been drooling for it for a long time and his patience had reached its limit.

"Oh, sorry. Well, actually we're making curry tonight." Asher replied.

"Curry?" All of them asked,

"Yeah, well the kitchen is short on some supplies and I happen to take a look on my grocery to see what I can give, noticing what I had, so I propose a curry rice for dinner. We had enough rice grains we got early, so yeah." Asher said

"Ah, enough talking man! I'm starving already!" Tolle's stomach grumbled very loud.

"Hahahaha, well remember the rule. Line up, kids!" Asher grin, the teenagers, and the Digimon begin to line up and each got their own platter, except for Huckmon as he can't carry it so Kira helps it.

"It looks good," Cagalli said as she stares at her own plate with slight drool.

"Well, the chef is a French man, so its kind of obvious," Sai said as he begins scoping his meal.

"Oh, it was the young man who did the recipe, he added something little extra on the curry," Oscar said.

"Bon appetite!" Tolle and Huckmon begin to chew their meal without care.

"What he add?" Kira asked as he takes a bite.

"Coffee powder, " Oscar and Asher replied, with that Kira instantly spit it out from shocked hearing the coffee word from his trauma. He quickly grabs Huckmon and telling him not to eat it until Huckmon shot flames at him from annoyance.

"Hey, Kira. Its rude to that on someone is enjoying the meal." Asher said, slightly annoyed as well.

"But you put-" before Kira finished, his friends started to comment how delicious it was and the coffee taste match with the curry texture. This leaves Kira dumbfounded, and what's more, Cagalli seems very delightful from the curry taste as well.

"W-what's going on?" Kira can't ask himself, he already knew coffee and Asher aren't in chemistry but why everyone seems delightful from it? Is his taste bud having a problem?

"Kira, this stuff is very good! You better try it!" Tolle ask,

Kira looks at his platter and decided to scoop the curry and the rice slowly. The Strike pilot stares at it, Kira closed his eyes, take a bite and slowly swallow, his eyes open wide after he swallowed. "It' good!" Kira can't believe himself, he took a few bites and it was delicious. That doesn't make any sense!

"Asher, you know how to cook?" Mirallia asked,

"Kinda, I took the cooking class because my parents are busy with work and we can't always order take out. So I took the initiative to learn basic cooking, the coffee curry sauce is also I learn from the class as well. I can't do a high-class meal of cause, just home cook style." Asher said

"Asher, please marry me!" Tolle joked which earn a good pinched from Mirallia,

"Hahahaha, sorry but you're taken," Asher said, suddenly Asher clicking his finger and took out a small note, jotting down something.

"What are you writing?" Cagalli asked,

"Just thought of a new recipe for my coffee, you guys wanna try?" Asher asked

This time Kira is for sure frighten from it before he warned his friends everyone agrees to try it and they not listening to his warning. After Asher done, which miraculously he found the identical coffee maker that Andrew Walfeld used.

"Here we go, Tomato and with basil paste coffee! A must after curry meal!" Asher said,

"Huh, guess its another failure. I guess need some improvement."

The teenagers saw the weird looking coffee, and all of them drink it except for the Digimon and sadly Kira. Within seconds, all of them drop themselves on the floor with their eyes turned white and passed out, Kira with his last strength wrote "Asher's coffee" by using the spilled coffee on the floor as a so-called dying message and passed out, Oscar and his staff quickly send them to infirmary, after the news broke out, Asher is forbidden to make coffee (which he will do it in secret).


End file.
